THE 

rERNAL  MAIDEN 


•Jr 


T^KVERETTHARRE 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 


CNIf.  W  CALIF.  WBWABY.  LO8  ANftKU» 


Copyright  1913  by 
Mitchell  Kennerley 


Press  of  J.  J.  Little  &>  Ives  Company 

East  Twenty-fourth  Street 

New  Tork 


TO 

EDGAR  WILSON  RIDDELL 

JANUARY  31,  1892— JULY  2,  1912 

IN  MEMORY  OF 
A  LIFE'S  SUPREME  FRIENDSHIP 


2130982 


THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN 

PRELUDE 

Long  ages  ago,  darkness  brooded  over  the 
frozen  world  and  held  in  its  thrall  the  unre- 
leased  waters  of  the  glacial  seas.  There  was 
no  animal  life  upon  the  land,  and  in  the  depth 
of  the  waters  no  living  thing  stirred.  Koko- 
yah,  the  water  god,  breathed  not;  Tornah- 
huchsuah,  the  earth  spirit,  who  rules  above  the 
spirits  of  the  wind  and  air,  was  veiled  in  slum- 
ber. Men  had  risen  like  willows  from  the 
frozen  earth;  but,  although  they  lived,  they 
were  as  the  dead.  They  spake  not,  neither  did 
they  hunt,  nor  eat,  nor  did  they  die.  Then  the 
Great  Spirit,  whose  name  is  not  known,  placed 
upon  earth  a  man,  in  his  arms  the  strength  to 
kill,  in  his  heart  the  primal  urge  of  love.  And 
in  that  flowerless  arctic  Eden,  out  of  its  boun- 
teous compassion,  the  Great  Spirit  placed  also 

1 


2  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

a  maiden,  her  face  beautiful  with  the  young 
virginity  of  the  world,  in  her  bosom  implanted 
a  yearning,  not  unmixed  with  fear,  for  love. 
Gazing  upon  her,  the  youth's  heart  stirred  with 
desire,  the  maiden's  with  virginal  terror.  The 
maiden  fled,  the  youth  followed.  Over  the 
desolate  icy  mountains  the  fleet  feet  of  the 
youth  sped  with  the  swiftness  of  the  wind  gods, 
over  the  silent  white  seas  the  maiden  with  the 
elusiveness  of  the  air  spirits.  In  the  heart  of 
the  youth  throbbed  the  passion  of  love,  in- 
domitable, eternal,  which  the  blasting  breath 
of  time  should  never  kill.  In  the  maiden's 
bosom  quaked  a  reasonless  shame,  an  uncon- 
querable terror.  Surrounded  by  her  whirling 
cloud  of  hair,  the  maiden  sprang,  untiring, 
across  the  wild  white  world.  His  strength 
failing,  the  youth  pantingly  followed.  Thou- 
sands of  years  passed;  the  breathless  pursuit 
continued;  the  maidens  nebulous  hair  became 
shot  with  streaks  of  golden  fire,  from  her  eyes 
beams  of  light  streamed  across  the  expanses 
over  which  she  exultantly,  fearfully  bounded; 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  3 

the  tremulous  faltering  youth's  face  paled 
until  it  shone  silvery  in  the  darkness,  and  the 
beads  of  perspiration  on  his  forehead  glowed 
with  a  strange  lustre.  Reaching ,  in  their  mad 
race,  the  very  edge  of  the  earth.,  the  maiden 
leaped^  fiery ,  into  space,  and  her  hair  becom- 
ing suddenly  molten,  she  became  the  sun — 
the  eternal  maiden  Sukh-eh-nukh,  the  beauti- 
ful, the  all-desired.  Utterly  exhausted,  his 
wan  arms  yearningly  outstretched,  the  youth 
swooned  after  her  into  the  heavens,  and  was 
transformed  into  the  moon — the  ever-desiring, 
ever-sorrowing  moon.  In  the  smile  of  Sukh- 
eh-nukh  the  seas  melted.  Walrus  and  nar- 
whals, seals  and  whales  came  into  being  on  the 
bosom  of  Kokoyah;  on  the  earth  the  snows 
disappeared,  and  the  brow  of  Tornahhuchsuah 
was  crowned  with  green  grasses  and  starry 
flowers.  Men  hunted  game,  women  laughed 
for  joy;  they  beat  drums,  they  danced,  they 
sang.  By  the  eternal,  unrequitted  passion  of 
the  lovers  in  the  skies,  happiness  and  plenty 
came  upon  the  earth.  But,  with  Light,  came 


4  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

also  Death.  Jealous  of  men's  happiness,  Perd- 
lugssuaq,  the  Great  Evil,  brought  sickness;  he 
struck  men  on  the  hunt,  on  the  seas,  in  the 
mountains.  He  was  ever  feared.  He  made 
the  Great  Dark  terrible.  But  when  the  night 
became  bright  with  the  love-lorn  glamour  of 
the  moon,  Perdlugssuaq  was  for  the  time  for- 
gotten; in  their  hearts  men  felt  a  vague,  ten- 
der, and  ineffable  stirring — the  lure  of  a  pas- 
sion stronger  and  stranger  even  than  death. 
They  gazed  upon  the  moon  with  instinctive, 
undefined  pity.  So,  as  the  years  passed,  and 
ages  melted  and  remade  the  snows,  the  long 
day  was  golden  with  the  Beauty  that  is  ever 
desired,  the  Ideal  never  attained;  the  night 
was  softly  silver  with  the  melancholy  and  eter- 
nal hope  of  the  deathless  love  that  eternally 
desires,  eternally  pursues,  and  is  eternally  de- 
nied. 

Thus  runs  the  Eskimo  legend. 


"Her  cheeks  were  flushed  delicately  with 
the  soft  pink  of  the  lichen  flowers  that  bloom 
in  the  rare  days  of  early  summer.  Her  eyes 
played  with  a  light  as  elusive,  as  quick  as  the 
golden  radiance  on  the  seas." 

GREAT  excitement  prevailed  among  the 
members  of  the  tribe.  Along  a  mot- 
tled green-and-brown  stretch  of  shore,  which 
rolled  undulatingly  toward  the  icy  fringe  of 
the  polar  sea,  more  than  twoscore  hunters  were 
engaged  in  unusual  activity.  Some  were  lac- 
ing tight  over  the  framework  the  taut  skin  of 
their  kayaks.  Others  sharpened  harpoon 
points  with  bits  of  flint.  Tateraq  busily  cut 
long  lashings  from  tanned  walrus  hides.  Mais- 
anguaq  deftly  took  these  and  pieced  them  to- 
gether into  long  lines,  which  were  rolled  in 
coils  lasso-fashion.  Arnaluk  and  a  half  dozen 
others  sat  on  their  haunches,  between  their 

5 


6  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

knees  great  balls  made  of  the  entire  hides  of 
seals.  With  cheeks  extended  they  blew  into 
these  with  gusto.  Filled  with  air,  the  hides 
became  floats,  which  were  attached  to  the 
leather  lasso  lines.  The  lines  in  turn  were 
fastened  by  Attalaq  and  Papik  to  harpoons, 
which  were  to  be  driven  into  the  walrus,  the 
natives'  chief  prey  of  the  arctic  sea. 

A  babel  of  conversation  swayed  to  and  fro 
among  this  northermost  fringe  of  the  human 
race.  Now  and  then  it  was  drowned  in 
the  raucous,  deafening  shriek  of  auks  which 
swarmed  from  nearby  •  cliffs  and  soared  in 
clouds  over  the  shore. 

"Aveq  sodh!  Walrus!  Walrus!"  shouted 
Papik,  tossing  up  his  arms  and  dancing,  his 
brown  face  twisting  with  grotesque  grimaces 
of  joy. 

"Aveq  sodh!  Aveq  soah!"  He  leaped  in 
frenzy.  He  seized  his  harpoon  in  mimicry  of 
striking,  and  darted  it  up  and  down  in  the  air. 
"Walrus !  Walrus !"  he  cried,  and  his  feverish 
contagion  spread  through  the  crowd. 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  7 

ffAveq  tedicksoah!  A  great  many  walrus," 
echoed  Arnaluk.  "Aveq  tedicksoah!  Walrus 
too  many  to  count!" 

They  stopped  their  work  and  gathered  in 
a  group,  Papik  before  them,  his  arms  pointing 
toward  the  sea.  His  eyes  glistened. 

To  the  south,  Im-nag-i-na,  the  entrance  to 
the  polar  sea,  was  hidden  by  grayish  mists 
which,  as  they  shifted  across  the  sun,  palpitated 
with  running  streaks  of  gold.  From  the  veiled 
distance  the  sound  of  a  glacier  exploding 
pealed  over  the  waters  like  the  muffled  roar  of 
artillery.  The  sun,  magnified  into  a  great 
swimming  disc  by  the  rising  vapors,  poured  a 
rich  and  colorful  light  over  the  sea — it  was  a 
light  without  warmth.  In  the  turquoise  sky 
overhead,  the  moving  clouds  changed  in  hue 
from  crimson  to  silver,  and  straggling  flecks, 
like  diaphanous  ribbons,  became  stained  with 
mottled  dyes.  Against  the  horizon,  the  arctic 
armada  of  eternally  moving  icebergs  drifted 
slowly  southward  and,  like  the  spectral  ships 
of  the  long  dead  Norsemen  who  had  braved 


8  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

these  regions,  flaunted  the  semblance  of  silver- 
gleaming  sails.  The  sea  rose  in  great  green 
emerald  swells,  the  wave  crests  broke  in  seeth- 
ing curls  of  silver  foam,  and  in  the  troughs  of 
descending  waters  glittered  cascades  of  celes- 
tial jewels.  It  was  late  summer — the  hour, 
midnight. 

The  keen  eyes  of  the  natives  searched  the 
seas. 

To  the  south  of  where  the  watchers  were 
gathered,  the  glacial  heels  of  the  inland  moun- 
tains step  precipitously  into  the  sea  and  rise  to 
a  height  of  several  thousand  feet.  At  the  base 
of  these  iron  rocks,  corroded  with  the  rust  of 
interminable  ages,  the  fragments  of  great  floes, 
like  catapults,  are  tossed  by  the  inrushing  sea. 
Above,  in  summertime,  rises  and  falls  con- 
stantly a  black  mist  resembling  shifting  cloud 
smoke.  Millions  of  auks  swarm  from  their 
moss-ensconced  grottos;  an  oppressive  clamor 
beats  the  air.  Along  the  ocean,  where  crevices 
of  the  descending  iron-chiselled  cliffs  are  fugi- 
tively  green  with  ribbons  of  pale  grass, 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  9 

downy-winged  ducks  purr,  mating  guillemots 
coo  incessantly,  and  tremulous  oogzooks  chir- 
rup joyously  to  their  young. 

As  the  natives  listened,  a  deep  nasal  bellow- 
ing from  the  far  ocean  trembled  in  the  air. 

Not  a  man  stirred.  The  sound  vibrated  into 
silence.  The  auks  screamed.  Hawks  shrilled. 
From  the  far  interior  valleys  came  the  echoed 
wolf -howling  of  Eskimo  dogs.  There  the 
mountain  tops,  perpetually  covered  with  ice 
and  snow,  gleamed  through  the  clouds  with 
running  colors  of  amaranth,  green  and  mot- 
tled gold.  The  air  swam  with  frigid  fire.  As 
the  tribe  stood  in  silence  along  the  shore,  a 
roar  as  of  gatling  guns  pealed  from  the  mist- 
hidden  heights.  After  a  taut  moment  of  si- 
lence, a  frightened  scream  rose  from  every 
living  thing  on  land  and  sea.  Yet  the  group 
of  men  only  bent  their  heads.  Then,  like  an 
undertone  in  the  chorus  of  animate  life,  their 
quick  ears  detected  the  long-drawn,  hoarse  call 
of  walrus  bulls.  The  howls  of  the  dogs  from 
the  distant  mountain  passes  came  nearer. 


10  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

More  distant  receded  the  stertorous  nasal  bel- 
low on  the  sea. 

The  natives  feverishly  leaped  to  their  tasks. 
There  was  a  note  of  anxiety  in  their  voices. 
Onto  the  forepart  of  the  kayaks  they  placed 
their  weapons,  leather  lines,  floats  and  drags. 
More  than  twoscore  boats  were  drawn  over  the 
land-adhering  ice  to  the  edge  of  the  sea.  A 
fierce  chatter  brought  all  the  women  to  the 
doors  of  their  seal-skin  tents.  They  looked 
seaward  and  shook  their  heads  with  dismay. 

"Many  walrus — far  away,"  the  men  shouted. 

"No,  no,"  the  timid  women  returned.  "Wal- 
rus too  far  away — Perdlugssuaq  will  strike 
you  there!1' 

Against  the  distant  horizon  mighty  bergs 
loomed.  In  swift  eddies  of  water  great  floes 
swirled.  The  walrus  were  too  far  away  to  be 
seen.  Yet  the  opportunity  of  securing  walrus 
was  too  rare  to  be  missed ;  for  unless  food  and 
fuel  were  soon  secured,  starvation  during  the 
coming  winter  confronted  the  tribe.  The  pre- 
vious winter  had  been  one  of  unprecedented 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  11 

severity  and  had  wiped  out  bears,  and  herds 
of  caribou  and  musk  oxen.  The  summer  sea- 
son, which  was  now  drawing  to  a  close,  had 
been  destitute  of  every  kind  of  game.  Musk 
oxen  had  been  seldom  found  and  then  only  in 
the  far  inland  valleys.  Some  blight  of  nature 
seemed  to  have  exterminated  even  the  animals 
of  the  sea.  The  natives  had  lived  mainly  on 
the  teeming  bird  life.  From  the  scrawny  bod- 
ies of  the  arctic  birds,  however,  neither  food 
that  could  be  preserved  nor  fuel  to  be  burned 
in  the  lamps  could  be  secured.  On  musk  oxen 
the  tribes  depend  chiefly  for  hides  and  meat, 
and  on  walrus  for  both  food  and  fuel.  The 
ammunition,  brought  by  Danish  traders  the 
summer  before,  was  exhausted,  so  in  the  hunt 
they  had  for  many  sleeps  to  rely  solely  upon 
their  skill  with  their  own  primitive  weapons. 
For  months  the  doughty  hunters  had  gathered 
but  few  supplies.  The  prospect  of  the  coming 
winter  was  ominous  indeed.  Wandering  up 
and  down  the  coast  in  their  migrating  excur- 
sions the  tribes  had  scoured  land  and  sea  with 


12  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

but  meagre  results.  At  the  village  from  which 
they  now  heard  the  inspiring  walrus  calls,  a 
dozen  visiting  tribesmen — most  of  them  in 
search  for  wives  as  well  as  game — had  gath- 
ered. Joy  filled  them  in  the  prospect  of  se- 
curing supplies — and  possible  success  in  love 
— at  last. 

As  they  launched  their  kayaks,  in  impatient 
haste  lest  the  walrus  drift  too  far  seaward, 
some  one  called : 

"Ootah!    Ootah!" 

They  gazed  anxiously  about.  Ootah,  the 
bravest  and  most  distinguished  of  the  hunters, 
was  missing.  All  the  young  men  would  gladly 
have  started  without  Ootah,  but  the  elders, 
who  knew  his  skill  and  the  might  of  his  arm, 
were  not  willing. 

To  the  younger  men  there  was  an  added  zest 
in  the  hunt ;  each  felt  in  the  other  a  rival,  and 
Ootah  the  one  most  to  be  feared.  A  feverish 
anxiety,  a  burning  desire  to  distinguish  him- 
self flushed  the  heart  of  each  brave  hunter. 
For  whoever  brought  back  the  most  game,  so 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  13 

they  believed,  stood  the  best  chance  of  winning 
the  hand  of  Annadoah.  Of  all  the  unmarried 
maidens  of  the  tribes,  none  cooked  so  well,  none 
could  sew  so  well  as  Annadoah,  none  was  so 
skilled  in  the  art  of  making  dhttees  and  kamiks 
as  Annadoah.  And,  moreover,  Annadoah  was 
very  fair. 

"Ootah!  aveq  soah!  Hasten  thou!  The 
walrus  are  drifting  to  sea." 

Attalaq  rushed  up  to  the  village  and  paused 
at  the  tent  of  Annadoah. 

"Ootah!"  he  called. 

A  voice  from  within  replied. 

"We  start — the  wind  drifts — the  walrus  are 
carried  to  sea." 

"I  come!"  replied  Ootah. 

The  flap  of  the  tent  opened.  The  sunlight 
poured  upon  the  face  of  the  young  hunter. 
He  smiled  radiantly,  with  the  self-assertion  of 
youth,  the  joy  of  life. 

Ootah  was  graced  with  unwonted  beauty. 
He  was  slight  and  agile  of  limb ;  his  body  was 
supple  and  lithe ;  his  face  was  immobile,  beard- 


14  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

less,  and  with  curving  lips  vividly  red,  a  nose, 
small,  with  nostrils  dilating  sensitively,  and 
eyebrows  heavily  lashed,  it  possessed  some- 
thing of  the  softness  of  a  woman.  His  glisten- 
ing black  hair,  bound  about  his  forehead  by  a 
narrow  fillet  of  skins,  fell  riotously  over  his 
shoulders.  His  eyes  were  large  and  dark  and 
swam  with  an  ardent  light. 

He  turned. 

"Thou  wilt  not  place  thy  face  to  mine,  An- 
nadoah?  Yet  I  love  thee,  Annadoah.  My 
heart  melts  as  streams  in  springtime,  Anna- 
doah. My  arms  grow  strong  as  the  wind,  and 
my  hand  swift  as  an  arrow  for  love  of  thee, 
Annadoah.  The  joy  the  sight  of  thee  gives  me 
is  greater  than  that  of  food  after  starving  in 
the  long  winter!  Yea,  thou  wilt  be  mine? 
Surely  for  my  heart  bursts  for  love  of  thee, 
Annadoah." 

He  leaned  back,  stretching  his  arms,  but 
Annadoah  shyly  drew  further  inside  her  shel- 
ter. 

With  a  sigh  he  flung  his  leather  line  over  his 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  15 

shoulder,  seized  his  harpoons,  and  stepped 
from  the  tent.  His  step  was  resilient  and 
buoyant,  his  slim  body  moved  with  the  grace 
of  an  arctic  deer.  He  looked  back  as  he 
reached  the  icy  shore.  Annadoah  stood  at  the 
door  of  her  tent.  Her  parting  laughter  rang 
after  him  with  the  sweetness  of  buntings  sing- 
ing in  spring. 

Ootah's  heart  leaped  within  him.  Annadoah 
possessed  a  beauty  rare  among  her  people. 
From  her  father,  one  of  the  brave  white  men 
who  had  died  with  the  Greely  party  years  be- 
fore at  Cape  Sabine,  Annadoah  had  inherited 
a  delicacy  and  beauty  more  common  indeed 
with  the  unknown  peoples  of  the  south.  Her 
face  was  fresh  and  smooth,  and  of  a  pale  golden 
hue.  Her  cheeks  were  flushed  delicately  with 
the  soft  pink  of  the  lichen  flowers  that  bloom 
in  the  rare  days  of  early  summer.  Her  eyes 
played  with  a  light  as  elusive,  as  quick  as  the 
golden  radiance  on  the  seas.  Her  dark  silken 
hair  straggled  luxuriantly  from  under  the 
loose  hood  of  immaculate  white  fox  fur  which 


16  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

had  fallen  back  from  her  head.  The  soft  skins 
of  blue  foxes  and  of  young  birds  clothed  her. 
From  her  sleeves  her  hands  peeped ;  they  were 
small,  dainty,  childlike.  Almost  childlike,  too, 
was  her  face,  so  palely  golden,  so  fresh,  so 
lovely,  so  petite.  There  were  mingled  in  her 
the  coyness  of  a  child  and  the  irresistible  co- 
quetry of  a  woman. 

She  waved  her  hands  joyously  to  the  hunters 
leaving  the  shore.  They  called  back  to  her. 
Some  of  the  women  frowned.  One  shook  her 
fist  at  Annadoah. 

Papik,  lingering  behind,  approached  Anna- 
doah timidly. 

"Thou  art  beautiful,  Annadoah;  thou  canst 
sew  with  great  skill.  With  the  needles  the 
white  men  brought  thee,  thou  hast  made  gar- 
ments such  as  no  other  maiden.  Papik  would 
wed  thee,  Annadoah." 

"Thou  art  a  good  lad,  Papik,"  Annadoah 
replied,  laughing  gaily.  "But  thy  fingers  are 
very  long — and  long,  indeed,  thy  nose!" 

Papik  flushed,  for  to  him  this  was  a  tragedy. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  17 

"But  with  my  fingers  I  speed  the  arrow  with 
skill,"  he  replied. 

"True,  but  the  fate  of  him  who  shoots  with 
a  skill  such  as  thine  is  unfortunate  indeed ;  for 
soon  the  day  will  come  when  thou  wilt  not 
speed  the  arrow,  when  thy  hands  will  be  robbed 
of  their  cunning.  When  ookiah  (winter) 
comes  with  his  lashes  of  frost  he  will  smite  thy 
fingers — they  will  fall  off.  Then  how  wilt 
thou  get  food  for  thy  wife?  Ookiah  will  twist 
thy  nose,  and  it  will  freeze.  Poor  Papik!" 

Annadoah  lay  her  hand  gently  on  his  arm, 
and  a  brief  sorrow  clouded  her  smiles. 

Papik  bowed  his  head.  He  understood  the 
blight  nature  had  set  upon  him  and  it  made 
his  heart  cold.  Truly  his  fingers  were  long 
and  his  nose  was  long — and  either  was  a  mis- 
fortune to  a  tribesman.  He  knew,  as  all  the 
natives  knew,  that  sooner  or  later  during  a 
long  winter  his  fingers  would  inevitably  freeze , 
then  he  would  lose  his  skill  with  weapons ;  con- 
sequently he  would  not  be  able  to  provide  for 
a  wife.  His  nose,  too,  in  all  probability  would 


18  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

freeze;  then  he  would  be  disfigured  and  the 
trials  of  life  would  be  more  complicated. 

From  the  inherited  experience  of  ages  the 
natives  know  that  a  hunter  with  short  hands 
and  feet  is  most  likely  to  live  long;  a  man's 
length  of  life  can  be  pretty  accurately  gauged 
by  the  stubbiness  of  his  nose.  The  degree 
of  radiation  of  the  human  body  is  such 
that  it  can  prevent  freezing  in  this  northern 
region  only  when  the  extremities  are  short; 
thus  a  man  with  long  feet  is  almost  for  a  cer- 
tainty doomed  to  lose  his  toes,  and  the  most 
fortunate  is  he  whose  feet  and  hands  are  short, 
whose  nose  is  stubby  and  whose  ears  are  small. 
The  exigencies  of  life  place  an  economic  value 
on  the  structure  of  a  hunter's  body,  and  the 
little  Eskimo  women — endowed  with  a  crude 
social  conscience  which  demands  that  a  father 
shall  live  and  remain  efficient  so  as  to  care  for 
his  own  children — are  loath  to  marry  one  af- 
flicted as  was  Papik. 

"But  I  care  for  thee,  Annadoah,"  Papik 
protested. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  19 

"And  well  do  I  know  thou  art  a  brave  lad, 
but  seek  thou  another  maiden;  thou  dost  not 
touch  my  heart,  Papik,  and  thy  fingers  are 
very,  very  long." 

With  native  spontaneity,  Papik  laughed  and 
turned  shoreward.  As  he  passed  the  assembled 
maidens  he  paused  momentarily  and  greeted 
them.  He  made  a  brief  proposal  of  marriage 
to  Ahningnetty,  a  fat  maiden,  and  was  met 
with  laughter. 

"Go  on,  Long  Fingers,"  one  called.  "How 
wilt  thou  strike  the  bear  when  thy  fingers  are 
gone?  How  wilt  thou  seek  the  musk  ox  when 
ookiah  hath  bitten  off  thy  feet?" 

The  maiden  who  spoke  was  extremely  thin. 

"Ha,  ha !"  Papik  returned.  "How  wilt  thou 
warm  thy  husband  when  the  winter  comes? 
How  wilt  thou  warm  the  little  baby  when  thou 
art  like  the  bear  after  a  famished  winter,  thou 
maid  of  skin  and  bones !" 

"Long-nose!  Long-nose!  may  thy  nose 
freeze!"  she  called. 

The  other  maidens  laughed  and  gibed  at  her. 


20  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

In  anger  she  fled  into  her  tupik,  or  tent.  Be- 
ing very  thin  she,  too,  like  Papik,  suffered 
from  the  bar  sinister  of  nature.  For,  in  select- 
ing a  wife,  a  native  comes  down  to  the  practi- 
cal consideration  of  choosing  a  maid  who  will 
likely  grow  fat,  so  that,  during  the  long  cold 
winters,  her  body  will  be  a  sort  of  human  radi- 
ator to  keep  the  husband  and  children  warm. 
So  love,  you  see,  in  this  region,  is  largely  in- 
fluenced by  an  instinctive  knowledge  of  nat- 
ural economics. 

As  he  launched  his  kayak,  Ootah  turned 
toward  Annadoah. 

"Thou  art  the  sun,  Annadoah!"  he  called. 

"And  thou  the  moon,  Ootah,"  she  replied. 
"I  shall  await  thee,  Ootah!  Bring  thou  back 
fat  and  blubber,  Ootah,  to  warm  thy  fires,  Oo- 
tah." And  she  laughed  gaily.  Then  she 
turned  her  back  to  Ootah,  bent  her  head  coyly 
and  did  not  turn  around  again.  To  Ootah  this 
was  a  good  augury — for  when  a  maiden  turns 
her  back  upon  a  suitor  she  thinks  favorably  of 
him.  This  is  the  custom. 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  21 

Ootah  felt  a  new  strength  in  his  veins.  He 
felt  himself  master  of  all  the  prey  in  the  sea. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  tent  of  Sipsu,  the 
angakoq,  or  native  magician,  stood  Maisan- 
guaq,  one  of  the  rivals  for  the  hand  of  Anna- 
doah.  His  face  twisted  with  jealous  rage  as 
he  heard  Annadoah  calling  to  the  speeding 
Ootah.  His  narrow  eyes  glittered  vindictively. 
Turning  on  his  heel  he  entered  Sipsu's  dwell- 
ing place. 

Sipsu  sat  on  the  floor  near  his  oil  lamp. 
When  Maisanguaq  entered  he  did  not  stir.  He 
was  as  still,  as  grotesque,  as  evil-looking  as  the 
tortured  idols  of  the  Chinese;  like  theirs  his 
eyes  were  beadlike,  expressionless,  dull;  such 
are  the  eyes  of  dead  seal.  His  face  was  brown 
and  cracked  like  old  leather,  and  was  covered 
with  a  crust  of  dirt ;  his  gray-streaked  hair  was 
matted  and  straggled  over  his  face ;  it  teemed 
with  lice.  He  held  his  knotty  hands  motion- 
less over  the  flame  of  his  lamp.  His  nails  were 
long  and  curled  like  sharp  talons.  As  Mais- 


22  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

anguaq  saw  him  he  could  not  repress  a  shud- 
der. 

Sipsu  was  feared,  and  as  correspondingly 
hated,  by  the  tribe.  They  brought  to  him,  it 
is  true,  offerings  of  musk  ox  meat  and  walrus 
blubber  when  members  fell  ill.  But  that  was 
the  urge  of  necessity.  Of  late  years  Sipsu's 
conjurations  for  recovery  had  resulted  in  few 
cures;  his  heart  was  not  in  them;  but  with 
greater  vehemence  did  he  enter  upon  seances 
of  malediction.  With  almost  unerring  exact- 
ness he  prophesied  many  deaths.  For  this  the 
tribe  did  not  love  him.  Nor  did  Sipsu  love  the 
tribe;  especially  did  he  hate  the  youthful,  and 
those  who  courted  and  were  newly  wed.  When 
Maisanguaq  touched  his  shoulder,  he  turned 
with  a  growl. 

"Canst  thou  invoke  the  curse  of  death  upon 
one  who  goes  hunting  upon  the  seas?" 

Through  the  rheum  of  years  Sipsu's  eyes 
gleamed. 

The  aged,  gnarled  thing  found  voice.  It 
was  hollow  and  thin. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  23 

"Ha,  thou  art  Maisanguaq,"  his  toothless 
jaws  chattered.  "Thou  bearest  no  one  good 
will.  Seldom  dost  thou  smile.  For  this  I  like 
thee." 

He  laughed  harshly.  Maisanguaq  impa- 
tiently repeated  his  question : 

"Can  Sipsu  invoke  the  great  curse?  Ha, 
what  dost  thou  mean?  Art  thou  a  fool?  Have 
not  many  died  upon  the  word  of  Sipsu,  Sipsu 
whose  spirits  never  desert  him !  Harken !  Did 
not  Sipsu  go  unto  the  mountains  in  his  youth? 
Did  he  not  hear  the  hill  spirits  speaking?  Did 
he  not  carry  food  to  them,  and  wood  and  arrow 
points  for  weapons?  And  in  ookiah  (winter) 
did  they  not  strike?  Did  they  not  kill  one 
Otaq,  who  hated  Sipsu?  Did  Sipsu  not  go 
unto  the  lower  land  of  the  dead — did  he  not 
speak  to  those  who  freeze  in  the  dark?  Yea, 
did  Sipsu  not  learn  how  the  world  is  kept  up, 
and  the  souls  of  nature  are  bound  together? 
And  hath  he  not  the  power  to  separate  them, 
yea,  as  a  man  from  his  shadow?" 

"Thou  evil-tongued  wretch,  well  doth  Mai- 


24  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

sanguaq  believe  thee!  Here — I  promise  thee 
meat.  I  follow  Ootah  upon  the  chase.  There 
are  walrus  on  the  sea.  Invoke  the  curse  of  de- 
struction upon  Ootah — and  I  will  give  thee 
meat  for  the  long  winter." 

"Ootah— Ootah— yah— hah!  Ootah!"  Sipsu 
snapped  the  name  viciously.  "With  joy  shall 
I  bring  the  great  evil  unto  Ootah.  For  hath 
he  not  despised  my  art,  hath  he  not  scoffed  at 
my  spirits !  But  thou — what  reason  hast  thou 
to  desire  his  death?" 

"Ootah  findeth  favor  with  Annadoah,"  said 
Maisanguaq  briefly.  "I  would  she  never  make 
his  kamiks  (boots)." 

"Yea,  and  she  shall  not.  She  shall  not!" 
the  old  man  shrieked  in  a  sudden  access  of 
rage.  "So  saith  Sipsu,  whose  spirits  never 
fail." 

Lying  on  the  floor  Sipsu  closed  his  eyes  and, 
moving  his  head  up  and  down,  called  repeat- 
edly: 

"Quilaka  Nauk!  Quilaka  Nauk!  Where 
are  my  spirits?  Where  are  my  spirits?" 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  25 

Presently  he  rose,  and  swaying  his  body 
crooned : 

"Tassa  quilivagit!  Tassa  quilivagit!  My 
spirits  are  here — they  are  here!  Tassa  quili- 
vagitr 

Grasping  a  drum  made  of  animal  tissue 
strung  over  a  rib-bone  he  began  to  dance.  He 
beat  a  slow,  uneasy  measure  on  the  drum.  His 
face  grinned  hideously.  His  voice  at  times 
rose  to  a  harsh  shriek,  then  suddenly  it  trailed 
away  until  it  seemed  like  the  voice  of  one 
speaking  very  far  off.  In  a  curious  sort  of 
intermittent  crooning  and  shrieking  ventrilo- 
quism he  called  down  curses  upon  Ootah.  His 
dance  increased;  he  beat  the  drum  frenziedly. 
His  legs  twisted  under  him,  he  described  short 
running  circles  and  jumped  up  and  down  in 
accesses  of  hysteria.  His  scraggy  arms,  with 
their  tattered  clothes,  writhed  in  the  air  as  he 
beat  the  drum  above  him.  His  head  began  to 
nod  from  side  to  side;  his  eyes  glowed  like 
coals;  his  tongue  hung  from  his  mouth;  foam 
gathered  at  his  lips. 


26  THE  ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

"Ootah!  Ootah!  May  his  kcmeg  (head) 
swell  with  the  great  fire!  May  he  see  horrors 
that  do  not  exist — what  the  wicked  dead  dream 
in  their  frigid  hell!  May  the  wrath  of  the 
spirits  descend  upon  him!  May  the  wrath  of 
the  spirits  descend  upon  him!" 

Sipsu  uttered  short  howls.  Maisanguaq 
joined  in  the  incantation,  and  re-echoed  the 
blighting  curses. 

"May  he  suffer  from  hanger dlugpoq  (ter- 
rible body  pains).  May  they  end  not!  May 
he  lie  awake  forever!  May  he  never  sleep! 
May  his  teeth  chatter  during  the  great  dark!" 

Sipsu  groaned.  He  worked  himself  into  an 
ecstasy  of  torture.  His  form  became  a  black 
whirling  figure  in  the  dim  tent. 

"May  Ootah's  eyes  close,  may  the  lids  swell; 
may  they  burn  with  fire." 

"May  he  never  see  the  light  of  day — may  he 
never  aim  the  arrow — may  his  harpoons  strike 
forever  in  the  darkness!"  Maisanguaq  replied 
rancorously.  "May  the  wrath  of  the  spirits 
descend  upon  him!" 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  27 

"May  Ootah's  tongue  fasten  to  his  mouth — 
may  it  be  as  the  tongues  of  dead  ahmingmah 
(musk  oxen) ,"  chanted  Sipsu.  "May  he  never 
speak — may  Annadoah  never  hear  his  voice," 
chorused  Maisanguaq. 

"May  Ootah  lose  his  pungo  (dogs) ;  may 
they  all  die!" 

Maisanguaq,  caught  by  the  evil  contagion, 
began  to  sway  his  body  in  rhythm  to  the  weird 
dance. 

"May  Ootah  become  a  cripple!  May  he 
break  his  bones !  May  he  lie  helpless  for  years ! 
May  his  shadow  leave  him!  May  he  suffer 
with  the  greatest  of  all  pains !" 

As  he  uttered  this  terrible  vcurse,  desiring 
that  Ootah's  shadow,  wherein  exists  the  soul, 
might  depart  from  his  still-living  body,  and 
thus  cause  the  most  excruciating  bodily  an- 
guish, Sipsu  sank  exhausted  to  the  ground. 
He  writhed  in  a  paroxysm. 

"May  Ootah  die  slowly;  may  his  legs  die, 
may  his  hands  die — yea,  may  the  spirits  of  his 
body  be  severed  from  one  another  as  ice  fields 


28  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

in  the  breaking ;  may  the  spirit  of  his  hands,  the 
spirit  of  his  feet,  the  spirit  of  his  lungs,  the 
spirit  of  his  head,  the  spirit  of  his  heart  wander 
apart — may  they  be  torn  asunder  as  the  clouds 
in  a  storm!  May  they  wander  apart  forever 
seeking  and  may  they  never  find  themselves! 
May  Ootah  suffer  as  never  suffered  the  un- 
happy dead!" 

And  Maisanguaq's  deep  voice  growled  hate- 
fully: 

"May  Ootah's  body  lie  unburied!  May  he 
rot  upon  the  earth !  May  the  ravens  peck  out 
his  eyes!  May  a  murderer  drink  his  blood! 
May  the  wolves  eat  his  heart !  May  the  spirit 
of  the  fog  grow  fat  upon  his  entrails!  And 
may  the  spirits  of  his  body  scatter — as  the 
clouds  in  the  wild  anore  (winds)  scatter!  May 
his  soul  forever  seek  to  find  its  kindred  spirits 
unavailingly  and  suffer  in  Sila  (throughout 
the  universe)  forever!" 

From  under  a  pile  of  skins  Sipsu,  his  chant 
subsiding,  brought  forth  a  bundle.  Opening 
it,  he  revealed  a  collection  of  old  bones;  there 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  29 

were  the  bones  of  musk  oxen,  seals,  walrus  and 
smaller  animals. 

" Yah-hah-hah !  I  shall  create  a  tupilak!" 
he  crooned  vindictively.  "I  shall  create  a  tupi- 
lak!  And  from  the  depths  of  the  waters  the 
tupilak  shall  see  Ootah.  Yah-hah-hah!  I 
shall  create  a  tupilak,  and  from  the  hands  of 
Sipsu  it  shall  carry  destruction  to  Ootah  on 
the  sea.  Yah-hah-hah!"  He  laughed  crazily. 
Continuing  his  chant  he  constructed  of  the 
bones  a  crude  likeness  to  an  animal  skeleton. 
Over  this  he  sprinkled  a  handful  of  dried  turf. 
Then,  from  beneath  the  cover  of  his  bed  he 
brought  a  stone  pot  and  from  it  poured  a  slug- 
gish red  liquid  over  the  strange  object  of  his 
creation.  This  was  a  mixture  of  clotted  ani- 
mal blood  and  water  kept  for  such  purposes  of 
conjuration.  This  done,  he  threw  over  the 
bones  an  aged  sealskin.  Then  he  rose  to  his 
feet,  and  in  a  low  voice  uttered  the  secret  f or- 
mulse  whereby,  in  the  depths  of  the  sea,  the 
result  of  his  labor  should  take  the  form  of  an 
artificial  walrus. 


30  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

Maisanguaq  stood  by,  silent,  evil  exultation 
shining  in  his  eyes. 

While  the  Sipsu  was  moaning  his  spell  over 
the  pile  of  bones,  Maisanguaq  turned  and  left 
the  tent.  Out  on  the  sea  he  saw  the  kayaks 
of  his  departing  companions. 

"Good  luck,  Maisanguaq,  have  courage  in 
the  chase!  Remember  Annadoah  awaits  you 
all!"  Annadoah  called  blithely  and  coquet- 
tishly  after  him. 

Maisanguaq's  lips  tightened,  his  heart 
leaped,  but  well  he  knew  that  he  meant  nothing 
to  the  maiden,  well  he  knew  what  little  chance 
he  had,  and  envy  filled  him,  and  bitter  doubt, 
for  he  knew  Ootah's  prowess,  his  strength  of 
limb,  and  braveness  of  heart.  However,  he 
put  out  with  quick  powerful  strokes,  and  with 
a  sense  of  anticipated  triumph,  for  he  was  con- 
fident that  the  magician  by  his  necromancy 
had  created  in  the  depths  of  the  sea  a  tupilak, 
or  artificial  walrus,  which  should  attack  Ootah. 
He  knew  it  might  upset  Ootah's  kayak  and 
cause  him  to  be  drowned.  The  probabilities 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  31 

were,  however,  that  it  would  permit  itself  to 
be  harpooned,  in  which  case  its  blighting  curse 
would  fall  upon  Ootah,  who  would  lose  all 
power  and  strength  of  limb,  whose  body  would 
become  bent  and  crippled  and  racked  with  the 
kangerdlugpoq,  and  who  would  die  slowly, 
inch  by  inch.  Thus,  Ootah  would  be  helpless 
the  rest  of  his  days  and  as  he  died  all  the  dread- 
ful horrors  of  the  curses  would  come  upon  him. 
Thus  would  Maisanguaq  be  revenged. 

As  the  midnight  sun  dipped  below  the  ho- 
rizon, the  sea  became  more  deeply  golden.  To 
the  women  watching  along  the  shore,  the  multi- 
tude of  kayaks  became  mere  black  specks. 
They  disappeared  now  and  then  behind  the 
crests  of  leaping  waves,  and  reappearing 
moved  with  the  swiftness  of  birds  along  the 
horizon. 

At  the  entrance  of  her  tent  Annadoah  stood, 
one  hand  shading  her  eyes  as  they  pierced  the 
radiant  distance.  From  the  mountain  passes 
behind  the  village  echoed  the  joyous  howls  of 
approaching  dogs.  Something  stirred  in  the 


32  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

heart  of  Annadoah — something  fluttered  there 
like  the  wings  of  a  frightened  bird. 

Ootah's  paddle  touched  the  water  with  the 
softness  of  a  feather,  yet  so  quickly  that  the 
double  blades  emitted  constant  flashes  of  light 
intermittently  on  either  side.  His  arms  moved 
with  consummate  ease.  His  kayak  made  a 
dark  blurred  line  as  it  sped  forward  over  the 
yellow  waters.  Soon  he  had  outdistanced  the 
party.  Then  his  speed  slackened,  he  glanced 
behind. 

The  other  kayaks  darted  after  him  like  er- 
ratic bugs.  The  land  was  a  mere  curve  on  the 
horizon;  all  about  him  the  sea  rose  and  fell, 
and  from  the  shimmering  mirror  of  every 
wave  the  sunlight  shot  backward  in  various 
directions.  A  thousand  golden  searchlights 
seemed  playing  over  the  sea.  Now  and  then 
through  the  coppery  mists  an  emerald  green 
berg  loomed  titanically,  and  as  it  slowly  bore 
down  upon  him,  Ootah  would  gracefully  ma- 
nipulate one  end  of  his  paddle  and  shift  his 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  33 

kayak  about  while  the  berg  lurched  toweringly 
onward.  As  he  gained  distance  from  the  land 
the  ocean  swelled  with  increasing  volume.  His 
frail  skin  kayak  was  lifted  high  on  the  oily 
crests  of  waves,  and  as  it  descended  with  swift 
rushes,  Ootah  felt  exultant  thrills  in  his  heart. 
Far  away  he  heard  the  resounding  explosion 
of  ice  bergs  colliding.  A  low  bellow  arose 
from  a  floe  immediately  ahead.  Ootah's  blood 
leaped,  the  spirit  of  the  hunter  throbbed  in  his 
veins,  his  nostrils  sensitively  quivered.  With 
a  slow  silent  movement  of  the  paddle,  he  pre- 
vented his  kayak  from  going  too  great  a  dis- 
tance forward  in  order  to  await  the  others. 
Judging  by  the  sound  of  the  muffled  bellowing, 
he  assumed  that  the  great  animals  were  sun- 
ning themselves  on  the  southern  ridge  of  the 
floe.  His  tactics  were  to  paddle  about  to  the 
north,  land  on  the  floe,  and  descend  upon  the 
wralrus  from  the  protection  of  the  ridges  of 
crushed  ice  which  always  abound  on  these  rafts 
of  the  arctic  sea. 

While  he  retarded  the  kayak  and  played 


34  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

with  his  paddle,  Ootah  became  conscious  of 
disquieting  things  in  the  world  about  him. 

In  the  heavens  he  saw  low  lying  clouds  mov- 
ing slowly  southward.  Higher  above,  clouds 
moved  more  swiftly  in  another  direction. 

"The  quilanialeqisut  (air  spirits)  are  not  at 
rest,"  murmured  Ootah.  "O  spirits  of  the  air, 
what  disturbs  your  ease?" 

The  clouds  in  the  higher  ether  circled  as  if 
in  an  eddy  of  wind.  Certainly  the  spirits  were 
not  at  peace  among  themselves. 

"Spirits  of  the  air,"  spake  Ootah,  "waft  your 
caresses  to  Annadoah's  cheeks.  Tell  her  Ootah 
waits  to  kill  the  walrus,  that  Ootah  loves  her 
and  would  make  Annadoah  his  wife — neuilacto 
Annadoah;  tell  Annadoah  Ootah  presses  his 
nose  to  hers  and  calls  her  Mamacadosa  (of  all 
things  that  which  tastes  the  most  delightful)." 

A  gust  swept  the  clouds  from  the  zenith. 
Still  no  breath  of  air  touched  the  sea. 

To  the  lee  a  group  of  small  icebergs  passed. 
They  rocked  and  eddied,  and  from  their  glacial 
sides  the  light  poured  in  changing  colors. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  35 

"O  spirit  of  the  light,  carry  thy  bright  mes- 
sage to  the  eyes  of  Annadoah,  tell  her  Ootah 
has  loved  her  for  many,  many  moons." 

The  bergs  crashed  into  one  another,  and  in 
the  impact  sank  into  the  sea. 

Ootah  bit  his  lips.  A  vague  misgiving  was 
cold  within  his  heart. 

A  flock  of  gulls  passed  low  over  the  waters. 

He  called  to  them — that  they  should  take 
his  love  to  Annadoah.  They  were  to  tell  An- 
nadoah that  he  would  soon  return,  laden  with 
food  and  fuel  for  the  winter.  Their  raucous 
cries  mocked  him.  He  demanded  what  they 
meant.  "Ootah — Ootah,"  they  seemed  to  call, 
"how  foolish  art  thou,  Ootah,  how  foolish  art 
thou  to  love  Annadoah.  For  fickle  is  Anna- 
doah— fickle,  fickle  the  heart  of  the  maiden 
Annadoah !" 

Ootah  shrieked  an  enraged  defiance.  His 
eyes  sought  the  horizon.  Kokoyah,  the  sea 
god,  was  breathing  deeply,  and  in  the  mists 
which  rose  like  fire-shot  smoke  before  the  sun, 
singular  forms  took  shape.  Ootah  saw  the 


36  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

magnified  shadows  of  great  dogs.  They 
seemed  to  be  dashing  along  the  horizon.  Then, 
with  crushing  strides,  behind  the  adumbration 
a  great  sled,  a  titan  figure  gathered  substance 
in  the  clouds.  It  moved  with  terrific  speed ;  it 
dominated  the  sky.  Its  dress  was  not  that  of 
the  northern  tribes.  Ootah  felt  a  resentful  stir- 
ring, as,  looking  upward,  in  the  clouds  over- 
head, a  white  face,  hard,  fierce,  scowling,  with 
burning  blue  eyes,  momentarily  appeared. 

"A  white  warrior  from  the  south,"  Ootah 
murmured.  "And  he  comes  with  swift  tread. 
What  can  it  mean?" 

In  common  with  many  primitive  peoples, 
Ootah  possessed  the  soul  of  a  poet — nature  was 
vocal  with  him,  and  the  disembodied  beings  of 
other  worlds  made  themselves  manifest  and 
spoke  in  the  light  and  in  the  clouds.  To  him 
everything  lived ;  the  clouds  were  the  habitation 
of  spirits,  the  waves  were  alive,  all  the  animals 
and  fish  possessed  souls;  the  very  winds  were 
endowed  with  sex  functions  and  loved  and 
quarreled  among  themselves.  The  interrela- 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  37 

tion  of  man  and  the  forces  of  the  universe  were 
inseparably  intimate  and  familiar;  integral 
parts  of  one  another,  their  destinies  were 
bound  together.  And  to  Ootah  nature  found 
much  to  gossip  about  in  the  affairs  of  men. 

Eagerly  Ootah  sought  the  clouds.  Along 
the  horizon  they  resolved  themselves  into  a 
phantasmagoria  of  Eskimo  maidens  and  white 
men  resembling  the  Danes  who  came  each  sum- 
mer to  gather  riches  of  ivories  and  furs.  And 
the  Eskimo  maidens  and  white  men  danced  to- 
gether. As  these  mirage-forms  melted,  Ootah 
glanced  into  the  water  by  his  side.  Looking 
up  from  the  ultramarine  depths  he  saw  some- 
thing white.  For  an  instant  it  assumed  the 
likeness  of  the  face  of  Annadoah.  He  saw  her 
golden  skin,  her  cheeks  flushed  with  the  pink 
of  spring  lichen  blossoms,  her  lips  red  as  the 
mountain  poppies  of  late  summer.  He  started 
back  and  called  aloud: 

"Annadoah!  Annadoah!"  For  she  had 
smiled  cruelly  and  disdainfully.  Hoarse 
laughter  answered  him — the  laughter  of  white 


38  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

men  from  the  south.  A  flock  of  hawks  passed 
over  the  water.  He  was  about  to  shout  when 
he  heard  the  sound  of  kayak  paddles  behind 
him.  He  recalled  himself  and  beckoned  si- 
lence. 


II 

"The  thought  of  Annadoah  in  the  embrace 
of  the  big  blond  man,  of  her  face  pressed  to 
his  in  the  white  men's  strange  kiss  of  abomina- 
tion, aroused  in  Ootah  a  sense  of  viola- 
tion. .  .  .  He  heard  Annadoah  murmur 
tenderly,  'Thou  art  a  great  man,  thou  art 
strong;  thy  arms  hurt  me,  thy  hands  make  me 
ache.33' 

SLOWLY,  with  silent  paddles,  the  hunters 
moved  over  the  limpid  waters  to  the 
north  of  the  floe.  On  the  far  side  they  saw  a 
horde  of  walrus  bulls  dozing  in  the  sunlight. 
Behind  a  ridge  of  ice  they  landed,  drawing 
their  kayaks  after  them.  With  skin  lassos, 
harpoons  and  floats,  the  party  crouched  low 
and  crept  toward  the  prey.  Thus  they  would 
be  mistaken  for  other  walrus  by  the  unsuspect- 
ing animals.  Ootah  was  ahead.  Softly  they 
39 


40  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

all  muttered  the  magic  formulae  to  prevent 
themselves  from  being  seen: 

"Nunavdlo  sermitdlo-akorngakut-tamarnu- 
ga!"  In  the  rear,  his  eyes  evilly  alight,  Mai- 
sanguaq  followed. 

As  they  approached  the  herd  they  scattered. 
Along  the  edge  of  the  floe  lay  about  twenty 
monstrous  animals,  steam  rising  from  their 
nostrils  as  they  snorted  in  their  slumber. 
There  were  a  half  dozen  mother  walrus  with 
half -grown  young  about  them.  Now  and  then 
they  sleepily  opened  their  eyes  and  made  low 
maternal  noises. 

Before  the  others  realized  what  had  hap- 
pened, Ootah  sprang  toward  a  bull  and  deliv- 
ered his  harpoon.  It  rose  in  the  air  and  roared 
deafeningly.  Ootah  struck  a  second  time. 
The  animal  floundered  in  a  pool  of  blood, 
whipping  the  floe  furiously  with  its  huge  tail. 

With  a  thunderous  roar  all  the  others  leaped 
with  one  glide  into  the  sea.  The  floe  rocked, 
the  water  churned  like  a  boiling  cauldron.  In 
a  few  minutes  Ootah  had  despatched  the  beast. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  41 

Standing  erect,  he  gazed  in  defiance  at  the 
clouds,  at  the  distant  gulls.  He  forgot  the 
omens,  and  laughed  with  joy. 

Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost,  however. 
Springing  into  their  kayaks,  the  Eskimos  put 
to  sea.  Now  the  battle  began  in  earnest.  At- 
tacking enraged  walrus  in  these  frail  skin 
boats  is  probably  the  most  dangerous  form  of 
hunting  in  the  world.  At  any  moment  an  in- 
furiated animal  is  liable  to  rise  from  the  sea 
immediately  beneath  a  kayak  and  upturn  it. 

Forming  a  semi-circle  on  the  water  about 
the  swimming  herd,  the  fearless  hunters  sat  in 
their  tossing  boats,  each  with  one  arm  upraised 
ready  to  strike,  and  with  the  other  manipu- 
lating the  paddle.  Whenever  a  whiskered 
head  rose  above  the  water  one  of  the  hunters 
let  a  harpoon  descend.  After  each  attack  they 
waited  breathlessly. 

Tateraq  suddenly  let  his  arm  descend — his 
harpoon  point  struck  home.  He  shouted  with 
joy — for  he,  too,  sought  Annadoah.  Roaring 
with  rage  the  lanced  sea-horse  dived  into  the 


42  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

deep.  The  foaming  water  became  red  with 
blood,  and  a  few  snorting,  bellowing  heads  ap- 
peared. All  about  glared  enraged,  fiery  eyes. 
The  animals  plunged  and  tossed  furiously  in 
the  water — the  savor  of  blood  maddened  them. 
They  began  a  series  of  attacks  upon  the 
kayaks. 

Alive  to  their  danger  the  men  kept  an  alert 
watch.  As  they  saw  a  seething  streak  de- 
scribed on  the  surface  of  the  water,  as  an  ani- 
mal raged  toward  them,  they  would  skillfully 
shift  their  positions.  The  animal  would  rush 
snortingly  by. 

With  dexterous  movements  of  the  paddle, 
Ootah  playfully  moved  his  kayak  among  the 
herd,  in  one  hand  his  harpoon  ready  to  strike. 
A  feverish  desire  to  make  the  greatest  kill  pos- 
sessed him.  Each  'time  a  hunter  made  an  at- 
tack he  felt  a  pang  of  anxiety.  Tense  rivalry 
spurred  the  young  hunters. 

In  the  midst  of  the  battle  Arnaluk  struck 
a  beast.  Ootah  summoned  all  his  skill,  and 
dashed  in  succession  after  a  number  of  appear- 


TJSLE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  43 

ing  heads — he  forgot  his  danger.  Before  the 
others  realized  it,  he  had  killed  two.  Mai- 
sanguaq's  harpoon  went  wild.  He  jealously 
watched  Ootah  and  struck  without  skill,  car- 
ried away  by  chagrin  and  rage.  Ere  made 
valiant  attacks  for  he,  too,  thought  of  Anna- 
doah,  but  the  walrus  invariably  went  skimming 
from  under  his  blows.  Papik's  harpoon 
glanced  the  backs  of  half  a  dozen.  Finally  it 
landed.  He  shouted  with  glee.  The  inflated 
floats  attached  to  the  harpoon  lines  bobbed 
crazily  on  the  surface  of  the  ensanguined  wa- 
ters as  the  animals  tossed  in  their  death  strug- 
gles below. 

Two  white  tusks  appeared  near  Ootah's 
kayak.  His  arm  cut  the  air — his  harpoon  sped 
into  the  water — an  enraged  bellow  followed. 
He  withdrew  the  handle,  free  of  its  line  and 
the  attached  metal  point — the  point,  with  the 
sinew,  descended  into  the  water.  It  had  struck 
home. 

Suddenly  a  cry  went  up.  One  of  the  natives 
waved  his  arms  frantically.  A  great  monster 


44  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

had  risen  by  his  kayak  and  fastened  one  of 
its  tusks  in  the  skin  covering  the  boat  from 
gunwale  to  gunwale.  To  strike  it  with  the 
harpoon  meant  that  it  would  plunge  and  cap- 
size the  frail  craft.  Crazy  with  excitement,  the 
native  began  hissing  and  spitting  in  the  beast's 
face. 

"Lift  his  head!"  cried  Ootah,  paddling  near. 
"lAft—tugaq.r—lift  his  tusk!" 

"Lift  his  head!"  echoed  the  others. 

ff Aureti!  Aureti!  Behave!  Behave!"  the 
panic  stricken  man  ludicrously  shrieked  at  the 
animal. 

Ootah  paddled  his  kayak  to  the  side  of  his 
companion's  and,  leaning  forward,  with  a 
quick  movement,  threw  a  lasso  over  the  ani- 
mal's nose  and  under  one  tusk.  With  a  ter- 
rific jerk  of  the  body,  he  gave  a  backward  pull 
— the  walrus  rose  on  the  water,  the  kayak  was 
freed  of  the  tusk  and  slipped  away.  With  a 
roar  the  animal  sank  into  the  sea.  A  number 
now  rose  angrily  about  Ootah's  kayak.  They 
were  bent  upon  a  combined  assault. 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  45 

Ootah  warded  off  the  attacking  bulls  on  all 
sides  with  his  harpoon.  The  air  trembled  with 
infuriated  calls,  the  animals  were  insane  with 
brute  rage.  The  other  natives,  alarmed,  pad- 
dled to  a  safe  distance  and  watched  the  un- 
equal conflict.  While  Ootah  manipulated  his 
harpoons,  Maisanguaq,  in  the  shelter  of  the 
floe,  watched  him  with  eager  eyes. 

He  saw  Ootah,  with  almost  superhuman 
dexterity,  striking  constantly.  Repeatedly  he 
had  to  renew  the  metal  points  on  his  weapon- 
handle.  One  by  one  the  animals  gave  up  the 
attack  and  dispersed,  until  only  an  obdurate 
bull  remained.  The  battle  between  man  and 
beast  continued.  Finally  Ootah  let  the  har- 
poon fly  with  full  strength.  It  struck  the 
animal  near  the  heart.  Ootah  uncoiled  the  free 
line  attached  to  the  harpoon  point  quickly — 
and  the  walrus,  weighing  probably  three  thou- 
sand pounds,  plunged  with  the  impetus  of  a 
bulk  of  iron  into  the  sea.  Then  a  strange  thing 
happened. 

The  pan-shaped  drag,  attached  to  the  ex- 


46  THE   ETEENAL   MAIDEN 

treme  end  of  the  long  line  securing  the  harpoon 
which  Ootah  had  driven  into  the  animal,  be- 
came entangled  in  the  lashings  on  the  forepart 
of  Ootah's  kayak.  Leaning  forward,  Ootah 
tried  to  disentangle  it.  He  feared  that  the 
beast,  in  its  struggle,  might  drag  all  his  weap- 
ons and  paraphernalia  into  the  sea.  He  felt  it 
tugging  at  the  line  while  he  unknotted  the 
tangle.  While  he  was  doing  this  Maisanguaq 
saw  the  beast  rise  to  the  surface  of  the  water 
not  far  from  Ootah  and  describe  a  quick  circle 
about  his  kayak.  Before  he  realized  it,  the 
leather  line  had  wrapped  itself  about  his  chest 
and  under  his  arms.  It  took  but  a  minute  for 
the  animal  to  circle  the  boat — then  it  plunged. 
Maisanguaq  saw  Ootah  struggle  to  release 
himself;  then  he  saw  the  kayak  tilt  as  the 
hunter  was  drawn,  by  the  mighty  impetus  of 
the  plunging  sea-horse,  into  the  water.  He 
heard  Ootah's  cry — saw  the  blood  red  waters 
seethe  as  they  closed  over  him.  In  a  brief 
interval  the  kayak  righted  itself — it  was 
empty. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  47 

A  murmur  of  dismay  rose  from  the  others. 
"The  tupilak!  the  tupilak!"  Maisanguaq  exul- 
tantly murmured,  his  eyes  alight.  "Happy 
angakoq!  Thou  shalt  have  much  of  Ootah's 
meat!" 

Over  the  spot  where  Ootah  sank  the  sun 
flamed.  The  water  seethed  with  the  threshing 
of  the  animals  beneath  the  sea.  Ootah's  float 
finally  rose.  The  natives  watched  breathlessly 
for  the  reappearance  of  Ootah.  The  float 
bobbed  up  and  down  as  the  animal's  death 
struggles  beneath  the  water  subsided. 

Maisanguaq,  looking  at  the  floats  which 
marked  the  dead  animals,  called  out : 

"Ootah  hath  won  Annadoah — hah-hah-hah ! 
Hah !  Ootah  hath  won  Annadoah  only  to  lose 
her!  We  shall  take  Ootah's  catch  to  Anna- 
doah, but  Ootah  sleeps.  Ootah  hath  gone  to 
taste  the  water  in  the  country  of  the  dead! 
Hah-hah!" 

At  that  moment  Masanguaq  nearly  fell 
from  his  kayak. 

"Methinks  thou  wilt  perhaps  join  the  fishes 


48  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

first,  friend  Maisanguaq,"  a  familiar  voice 
laughed  joyously  behind  him. 

Maisanguaq's  face  became  livid  with  dis- 
may. Had  the  angakoq  failed?  And  why? 

Turning,  he  saw  Ootah,  not  far  away,  clam- 
bering from  the  water  onto  the  floe.  He  was 
unscathed  by  the  mishap — the  water  even  had 
not  penetrated  his  skin  garments.  A  joyous 
cry  arose  from  the  hunters  as  they  saw  him 
running  to  and  fro,  working  his  arms  to  get 
up  circulation.  Noting  Maisanguaq's  scowl- 
ing face,  Ootah  twitted  him: 

"Laugh,  friend  Maisanguaq,"  he  said,  "for 
winter  comes  and  then  thy  teeth  will  chatter." 
Maisanguaq  scowled  deeply — Ootah's  blithe- 
some remarks  filled  him  with  rancor. 

"Peace,  Maisanguaq.  Methinks  thou,  too, 
lovest  Annadoah,"  continued  Ootah  kindly. 
"Therefor,  I  bear  thee  no  spite!  For  who  can- 
not love  Annadoah.  Ka — ka!  Come — come!" 
Shaking  the  water  from  him,  he  bade  the 
others  tow  his  kayak  to  the  floe. 

Ootah  entered  his  kayak.    The  struggles  of 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  49 

the  walrus  had  subsided,  and  only  two  skin 
floats  bobbed  feebly  on  top  of  the  waves.  The 
hunters  now  strung  series  of  kayaks  together 
with  strong  leather  ropes,  three  skin  boats  be- 
ing attached  in  a  catamaran.  Taking  up  the 
leather  floats  one  by  one,  to  the  rear  kayak 
of  each  series  the  hunters  fastened  the  harpoon 
lines  which  secured  the  prey.  Thus  the  ani- 
mals were  to  be  towed  slowly  ashore. 

Altogether  eight  walrus  had  been  secured; 
four  of  these  had  fallen  to  the  skill  of  Ootah. 
Ootah  sang  for  joy.  Again  he  had  achieved 
distinction  on  the  hunt,  and  so,  with  all  the 
better  chances  of  success,  he  believed  he  might 
pursue  his  suit  for  the  hand  of  Annadoah. 
With  powerful,  steady  strokes  of  their  paddles 
the  hunters,  in  their  processions  of  kayaks, 
towed  the  walrus  through  the  sea  shoreward. 
They  joined  unrestrainedly  in  Ootah's  hunting 
chant.  Only  Maisanguaq  was  silent. 

Now  and  then,  unable  to  restrain  his  exub- 
erant joy,  Ootah  sang  his  love  to  the  clouds, 
the  waves,  the  winds. 


50  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

"O  winds,  O  happy  winds,  speed  my  mes- 
sage to  Annadoah!"  he  called.  "Tell  her  that 
I  return  with  the  food  of  the  sea!  O  spirits 
of  the  air,  breathe  to  her  that  Ootah's  heart 
hungers  for  her  as  starving  ahmingmah  desire 
green  grass  in  winter  time.  O  happy,  happy 
waters,  I  return  to  Annadoah  with  food  and 
fuel  for  winter — say  Ootah  meuilacto — would 
wed — Annadoah.  Tell  her  Ootah  calls  her 
Mamacadosa!" 

The  others,  although  disappointed  in  being 
outwon,  in  spontaneous  recognition  of  his  su- 
perior feat,  chimed  a  chorus  of  congrat- 
ulations. Suddenly  Maisanguaq  gleefully 
pointed  a  significant  finger  to  the  sky. 

"Pst!"  he  said. 

A  black  guillemot,  like  an  omen  of  evil, 
passed  over  Ootah's  head. 

By  all  the  immemorial  customs  of  their  peo- 
ple, because  of  the  established  pre-eminence  of 
his  prowess,  Ootah  should  now  find  favor  in 
the  eyes  of  Annadoah.  Scarce  seventeen  sum- 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  51 

mers  had  passed  over  Annadoah's  head  and 
of  wooers  she  had  a  score.  The  young  hunt- 
ers, not  only  of  her  own  tribe,  but  of  others 
far  south,  sought  her  hand.  The  fame  of  her 
beauty  and  skill  had  travelled  far.  None,  it 
was  said,  equalled  her  dexterity  in  plaiting 
sinew  thread;  none  cut  and  sewed  garments 
as  this  maid  with  tender  child's  hands.  She 
made  weapons,  she  brewed  marvellous  broths. 
Since  the  death  of  her  mother  she  had  served 
the  tribe  with  her  skill.  Yet,  as  the  summers 
passed,  she  remained  carefree  and  to  all  suit- 
ors shook  her  head.  "Become  a  great  chief," 
she  would  say.  "Win  in  the  games,  bring 
back  the  musk  oxen,  then  perhaps  Annadoah 
will  listen."  Each  summer  the  young  men 
pursued  the  hunt  with  the  hope  of  becoming 
chief  hunter  among  the  tribesmen.  But  for 
three  summers  Ootah  had  won  signally  above 
them  all.  To  the  remote  regions  of  their 
world  the  name  of  Ootah  was  whispered  with 
awe.  Ootah  carried  off  honors  in  the  muscle- 
tapping  and  finger-pulling  matches;  he  out- 


52  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

distanced  all  rivals  in  kayak  races  on  the  sea; 
he  left  everyone  behind  on  perilous  journeys 
to  the  inland  mountains.  Of  every  living  ani- 
mal on  land  and  sea  he  had  killed,  and  in  quan- 
tity of  game  he  excelled  them  all.  Only  of 
late  had  Annadoah  listened  with  some  degree 
of  favor  to  his  pleadings.  In  the  days  of  want 
he  brought  blubber  to  her  for  fuel,  and  pro- 
vided her  with  meat.  And  she  was  grateful. 
Perhaps  her  heart  stirred,  but  she  feared  the 
quiet  passion  of  Ootah,  and  by  a  perverse  fem- 
inine instinct  she  resented  a  tenderness  so 
gentle  that  it  seemed  almost  womanly.  With 
winter  approaching,  and  food  scarce,  it  was 
inevitable  that  Annadoah  should  wed.  And 
now  that  Ootah  in  the  quest  of  the  walrus  had 
made  the  greatest  kill,  none  doubted  that  he 
should  be  chosen. 

As  the  kayaks  approached  the  village  an 
unexpected  sight  greeted  the  eyes  of  the 
hunters. 

Along  the  shore,  the  women  of  the  tribe  and 
strange  men  were  dancing. 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  53 

Before  the  village  tents  they  were  gathered 
in  groups.  While  the  elder  women  of  the 
tribe  beat  a  savage  dance  on  membrane  drums, 
the  chubby-bodied  maidens,  dressed  in  fur 
trousers,  swayed  in  the  arms  of  the  foreigners. 

As  the  boats  approached  the  shore,  the  na- 
tives recognized  the  visitors.  They  were  one 
of  a  half  dozen  parties  of  Danish  traders  who 
came  north  yearly  from  Uppernavik  to  gather 
the  results  of  the  season's  hunt.  Their  visit 
meant  an  untold  distribution  of  wealth  among 
the  tribe,  for  they  brought  needles,  knives, 
axes,  guns,  ammunition,  and  in  return  secured 
a  fortune  in  furs  and  ivory  tusks.  They  also 
doled  out  tea,  biscuits,  matches,  tobacco, 
thread,  and  gaudy  handkerchiefs  beloved  by 
the  women.  Their  coming  had  not  been  ex- 
pected this  season  because  of  the  dearth  of 
game. 

The  men  in  the  boats  shouted  to  one  an- 
other joyously.  Only  Ootah  felt  a  heavy  sink- 
ing at  his  heart.  He  saw  the  big  blond- 
bearded  men  chucking  the  little  women  under 


54  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

their  chins.  Their  method  of  kissing  was 
strange  and  repugnant  to  him.  Accustomed 
only  to  the  chaste  touching  of  a  maiden's  face, 
the  kiss  of  the  white  men  he  instinctively  re- 
garded as  imnameably  unclean.  He  resented 
their  freedom  with  the  women.  But,  children 
of  the  heart  and  brain,  primitive,  innocent,  the 
women  did  not  understand  the  white  men's 
strange  behavior.  And  the  husbands,  not  com- 
prehending, did  not  care.  A  gun,  ammuni- 
tion, a  few  boxes  of  matches — these  consti- 
tuted wealth  in  value  exceeding  a  wife. 

Now  and  then  Ootah  saw  some  of  the  vis- 
itors raising  flasks  to  their  lips.  Then  their 
hilarity  rang  out  more  boisterously. 

When  they  saw  the  kayaks  approaching  the 
shore  the  strangers  shouted.  The  hunters  re- 
plied. Only  Ootah  remained  silent.  Disap- 
proving of  the  spectacle,  his  thoughts  were 
busier  elsewhere;  his  heart  glowed. 

"Ho,  ho,  what  there?"  some  called. 

"Aveq  soah"  Maisanguaq  replied. 

"Jolly  for  you!"  shouted  a  Newfoundland 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  55 

sailor,  whom  Ootah  recognized  as  having  been 
in  the  region  with  some  sportsmen  from  far 
away  America  several  years  before. 

As  they  danced  the  visitors  broke  into  the 
fragments  of  a  wild  sailor's  chorus. 

When  they  had  finished,  the  Newfound- 
lander, a  tall,  tough,  red-faced  whaler,  drank 
again  from  his  flask  and  strode  to  the  shore. 
His  bulky  body  reeled  unsteadily. 

"Come  on  up — bring  'er  in — hurry  up! 
Gawd,  but  you'r'  blazin'  slow!" 

Ootah  and  his  companions  landed.  Tugging 
at  the  leather  lines  they  drew  the  walrus  one 
by  one  from  the  water  to  the  ice.  In  these 
monstrous  palpitating  black  bodies  were  tons 
of  food  and  fuel.  Without  wasting  time,  they 
fell  to'  their  task  and  dressed  the  animals. 
Meanwhile  sleds  were  brought  from  the  tents 
and  the  masses  of  steaming  meat  and  blubber 
were  loaded.  While  the  natives  were  thus 
busily  engaged,  the  half-drunken  Newfound- 
lander strode  about  uttering  great  oaths.  The 
strangers'  dogs,  attracted  by  the  meat,  with 


56  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

shrill  howling  descended  to  the  ice  and  sur- 
rounded the  sled-loads  of  blubber.  Ootah 
seized  an  oar  and  beat  them  away. 

"What  the  hell  d'ye  mean,"  the  Newfound- 
lander demanded.  "Youh'd  beat  our  dogs? 
Eh?  Get  away,  damn  youh!"  He  lifted  his 
fist  above  Ootah.  His  face  purpled.  Ootah 
raised  his  lithe  body,  his  muscles  quivered  like 
drawn  rubber.  His  black  eyes  flashed  proud 
defiance. 

"Youh'd  fight  me,  eh? — youh  defy  me,  youh 
damn  candle-suckin'  heathen!" 

His  hand  descended.  Beyond,  the  drum 
beaters  ceased,  the  dancers  turned — a  sur- 
prised cry  went  up. 

Ootah  drew  back,  his  face  flushed.  There 
was  a  red  spot  on  his  cheek  where  the  white 
man's  fist  had  struck.  He  felt  a  sense  of  mo- 
mentary terror.  The  white  men's  methods  of 
fighting  were  unfamiliar  to  the  natives.  A 
blow  from  the  fist  is  a  thing  unknown  among 
them.  Ootah  drew  away — the  bullying  New- 
foundlander followed. 


THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN  57 

"Youh'd  beat  our  dogs,  eh?  Well,  I'll  show 
youh,  youh  oily,  tallow-eatin'  husky!" 

He  called  the  dogs,  and  stooping  to  the 
treasured  mass  of  blubber  threw  a  great  mass 
to  the  howling  animals. 

"Ha!  ha!  ha!  guess  youh  thought  youh  were 
smart,  eh?"  A  second  team  of  dogs,  released 
from  their  tethering,  came  wildly  dashing 
shoreward.  The  whaler  seized  another  mass  of 
meat  and  flung  it  to  the  animals. 

Ootah  felt  a  flush  of  fierce  indignation  rise 
within  him.  His  food  for  the  winter,  whereby 
he  hoped  to  win  Annadoah,  that  which  might 
keep  away  the  wolves  of  starvation,  was  being 
wantonly  wasted.  He  saw  his  companions 
cowering  at  the  sight  of  the  white  man — he 
drew  himself  erect.  He  saw  the  Newfound- 
lander turn  and  shout  to  his  companions  on 
the  shore.  Ootah  thought  of  the  saying, 
"Strike  thy  enemy  when  his  back  is  turned." 
He  seized  a  heavy  harpoon  handle,  made  of 
a  great  narwhal  tusk,  and  swinging  it  high 
struck  the  Newfoundlander  a  terrific  blow  on 


58  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

the  head.  He  fell  senseless  to  the  earth,  his 
face  bleeding.  Half  stunned  he  tried  to  strug- 
gle to  his  feet,  but  Ootah  leaped  upon  him, 
and,  as  was  ethical  in  the  native  method  of 
fighting,  trampled  him  into  insensibility.  The 
man  lay  unconscious,  his  face  bleeding  effu- 
sively. 

Without  a  word  Ootah  continued  loading 
his  share  of  the  game  onto  his  sleds.  Attracted 
by  the  attack,  the  other  members  of  the  trad- 
ing party  descended  and  surrounded  the  fallen 
man. 

"Nice  trick,  eh?'*  laughed  one.  "Sam  got 
his  all  right.  'Minds  him  right  for  being  so 
damned  fresh."  They  surveyed  Ootah.  "Slick 
little  devil,"  one  said,  handing  Ootah  his  gun. 

"Take  it,  son,"  he  said,  with  maudlin  mag- 
nanimity. "You've  got  nerve!" 

Ootah  smiled  bashfully,  and  shook  his  head 
in  quiet  refusal. 

The  half-drunken  traders,  laughing  at  what 
they  considered  a  clever  trick,  carried  their 
companion  into  one  of  the  tents  and  poured 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  59 

brandy  into  his  mouth.  Then  they  left  him 
lying  alone,  half  sodden,  and  returned  to  the 
shore.  Some  watched  the  natives  working, 
while  others  clasped  the  native  maidens  in  their 
arms  and  danced.  Half  afraid  of  the  whites, 
flattered  by  their  attentions,  and  extremely 
embarrassed,  the  little  women  jumped  and 
danced  in  the  visitors'  arms. 

Papik  finally  drew  his  single  sledge  load  of 
walrus  toward  his  tent.  He  had  been  rejected 
repeatedly,  but  now — with  a  load  of  blubber — 
he  knew  he  could  not  afford  to  miss  the  oppor- 
tunity of  seeking  a  wife. 

" Ahningnetty !  Ahningnetty !"  he  hailed  a 
chubby  maiden  who,  breaking  from  the  arms 
of  one  of  the  white  men,  was  seen  running 
toward  her  shelter. 

"What  wouldst  thou,  Papik?"  she  called. 

"Papik  would  speak  with  thee.  Ookiah 
(winter)  comes,  and  his  teeth  are  sharp.  They 
will  bite  thee  with  pangs  of  hunger,  and  the 
meat  Papik  brings  will  make  joyful  Papik's 
wife." 


60  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

Ahningnetty,  summoning  some  of  the  other 
maidens,  surveyed  Papik's  load  of  blubber. 

"Truly,  as  he  saith,  there  is  little  food,  and 
happy  will  be  Papik's  wife,"  said  one. 

"But  when  thy  blubber  is  gone  with  what 
shalt  thou  provide  her?"  asked  Ahningnetty. 

"Perchance  the  bears  will  come,"  Papik 
said.  "And  skillful  is  Papik's  hand  with  the 
lance." 

"But  thy  hand  is  long,  Papik,  and  long  fin- 
gers soon  lose  their  skill." 

Ahningnetty  dubiously  shook  her  head. 

"But  thou  art  chubby — yea,"  said  Papik  ad- 
miringly— "thou  art  fat  as  the  mother  bears 
after  a  fat  summer,  and  thy  body  is  warm;  it 
giveth  heat;  Papik  would  give  thee  food,  and 
thou  shalt  keep  him  warm  during  the  long 
winter." 

The  maiden  smiled  delightedly.  For,  as 
Papik  indicated,  whereas  a  man  may  admire 
a  slimmer  beauty  during  the  summer,  when 
the  long  night  comes  a  maiden  fat  and  chubby 
is  a  wife  to  be  prized. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  61 

"But  alas,  thy  nose  is  long,  Papik,"  she  said, 
shaking  her  head. 

And  the  others  chorused : 

"Long  nose,  short  life!  Long  nose — short 
life !  Long  nose — short  life !"  In  anger  Papik 
struck  the  offending  member,  and  drawing  his 
sledge  after  him  proceeded  toward  his  tent. 

Assisted  by  a  number  of  the  natives,  Ootah, 
smiling,  exultant,  drew  five  sled-loads  of  blub- 
ber up  over  the  ice  toward  Annadoah's  tent. 
With  their  comparatively  meagre  portions  the 
others  followed.  To  Annadoah  Ootah  meant 
to  show  the  spoils  of  his  quest.  To  her  he  de- 
sired to  present  the  greater  portion  of  the 
riches  he  had  by  his  prowess  secured.  Here 
was  meat  to  serve  them  during  the  long  winter, 
and  in  that  region  the  catch  was  a  priceless 
fortune.  Surely  Annadoah  could  not  refuse 
him  now.  He  had  proved  himself  beyond 
question  the  chief  hunter  of  the  tribe.  His 
eyes  filled,  his  temples  excitedly  throbbed.  He 
felt  a  greater  joy  than  that  the  natives  feel 
when  the  sun  dawns  after  the  long  night.  In 


62  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

his  heart  pulsed  the  sweet  song  of  spring's  first 
ineffable  bird. 

Not  far  from  Annadoah's  tent  he  paused. 
About  him  the  natives,  wondering,  admiring, 
had  gathered.  He  turned  to  them;  he  felt  a 
strength,  a  dignity,  an  assertion  he  had  never 
experienced  before.  His  voice  rose  in  a  happy, 
ingenuously  proud  chant  of  exultation: 

"From  the  bosom  of  Nerrvik,  queen  of  the 
sea,  have  I  not  brought  food  for  the  long  win- 
ter ;  yea,  have  I  not  for  many  moons  sought  to 
win  in  the  chase  that  I  might  claim  Anna- 
doah?  Annadoah!  Annadoah!" 

"Yea,  that  thou  might est  claim  Annadoah! 
Thou  art  the  strongest  hunter  of  the  tribe," 
the  natives  rejoicingly  chorused. 

"Did  I  not  win  in  the  muscle-tapping 
games?"  he  sang.  "Did  I  not  speed  the  ar- 
row as  none  other — did  I  not  speed  the  arrows 
as  the  birds  fly?" 

"Yea,"  they  replied,  "thou  didst  speed  the 
arrow  with  the  skill  of  the  happy  dead  playing 
in  the  aurora — over  the  earth  as  the  birds  fly 


THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN  63 

didst  thou  send  the  arrows.  Strong  is  thy  arm, 
Ootah." 

Not  far  away  some  of  the  natives,  joining 
in  the  chorus,  began  beating  drums.  The  white 
men  hilariously  drank  from  bottles  and  joined 
in  the  merry  dances. 

"Did  I  not  call  the  walrus  and  seal  from  the 
sea — as  none  other?  Have  I  not  lured  the 
caribou  from  their  hidden  lair?  Have  I  not 
enticed  the  birds,  the  foxes,  and  the  bear  by  my 
calls — as  none  other  of  the  tribes?" 

In  succession  Ootah  uttered  imitations  of  the 
calls  of  the  walrus  bulls,  the  female  caribou, 
and  cries  of  the  various  birds. 

"Have  I  not  held  converse  with  the  animals 
of  the  land,  the  birds  of  the  air,  and  shall  I  not 
one  day  perchance  comb  the  hair  of  Nerrvik 
in  the  sea!" 

The  drums  beat  more  loudly;  the  dancers 
hopped  and  leaped.  The  chorus  replied: 

"Thou  lurest  the  walrus  and  seal  from  the 
sea,  thou  enticest  the  caribou,  ahmingmah  and 
birds  unto  thee!  Thou  hast  learned  the  Ian- 


64  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

guage  of  nature,  and  the  happy  spirits  are 
kind  to  thee!  Marvellous  is  thy  power,  Ootah." 

And  in  the  chorus,  deep,  hoarse,  sneeringly 
ironical  rang  the  words  of  Maisanguaq : 

"Marvellous  is  thy  power,  Ootah,"  and  his 
low  bitter  laughter  followed. 

The  white  men  began  to  sing  as  they  danced 
with  the  chubby  women.  In  couples  they 
rocked  to  and  fro. 

"Have  I  not  killed  of  all  the  birds  of  the 
air,  the  animals  of  the  land  and  sea!  Have  I 
not  observed  the  customs  of  the  august  dead? 
Have  I  done  aught  to  bring  misfortune  to  the 
tribe?" 

In  spontaneous  recognition  of  his  pre-emi- 
nence the  young  men  freely  yielded  Annadoah. 
Only  Maisanguaq  felt  bitter. 

Ootah  summoned  his  helpers  and  the  sleds 
of  blubber  were  drawn  to  the  immediate  en- 
trance of  Annadoah's  tent.  He  seemed  to 
step  upon  air.  His  heart  bounded. 

"Annadoah!  Annadoah !"  he  called.  "Ootah 
waits  thee.  Ootah  hath  brought  thee  treasure 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  65 

from  the  depths  of  the  sea.  Strong  is  the  arm 
and  brave  is  the  heart  of  Ootah  when  the  arm 
strikes  and  the  heart  beats  with  the  thought  of 
thee." 

Seeing  him  there,  the  natives  ceased  danc- 
ing. The  white  men,  curious,  drew  near  the 
tent. 

As  he  stood  there,  his  head  erect,  proud, 
expectant,  he  became  conscious  of  a  sudden 
ominous  silence  on  the  part  of  his  companions. 
Some  distance  away  the  women  were  whisper- 
ing to  one  another,  and  above,  in  the  sky,  cir- 
cled a  black  guillemot. 

"Annadoah,"  he  softly  called. 

Only  the  hawk  replied. 

"Annadoah,  I  bring  thee  my  love,  as  con- 
stant as  my  shadow!  I  bring  thee  riches! 
Ootah  would  give  thy  couch  new  furs  and 
caress  thee." 

From  the  brown,  weather  worn  sealskin 
tent  came  the  murmurous  sound  of  voices. 
Ootah  heard  the  voice  of  Annadoah — and  that 
of  another. 


66  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

The  black  bird  in  the  sky  screamed. 

Not  far  distant  in  the  tent  of  the  angakoq 
Ootah  heard  the  low  disquieting  sound  of  a 
drum  beaten  in  some  malevolent  incantation. 

His  heart  sank  as  heavily  as  a  dead  walrus 
sinks  in  the  sea. 

Something  stifled  him.  Then  the  flap  of 
the  tent  parted  and  Annadoah  stepped  forth, 
her  head  tossed  haughtily,  her  beautiful  eyes 
flashing. 

"Get  hence,"  she  said.  "Thou  art  a  boy, 
thy  tongue  is  that  of  a  boy.  Thou  art  soft — 
thou  hast  the  heart  of  a  woman." 

"Annadoah  ..."  Ootah's  voice  wailed. 
The  stretch  of  shore  seemed  to  heave  and 
writhe.  He  put  out  his  hands  as  if  to  ward 
off  a  blow. 

Behind  Annadoah,  at  the  door  of  the  tent, 
the  form  of  a  man  stooped.  As  he  emerged, 
Ootah  saw  he  was  taller  than  Annadoah's 
tent.  His  shoulders  were  broad  and  massive. 
His  face,  bronzed  by  the  burning  sun,  was 
like  tanned  leather,  hard,  wrinkled;  his  ex- 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  67 

pression  was  as  grim  as  graven  stone.  His 
large  blue  eyes  glittered  with  the  coldness  of 
flint.  His  hair  and  long  curling  moustache 
were  blond.  Ootah  recognized  "Olafaksoah" 
— Olaf,  the  great  white  trader — whom  he 
had  seen  two  seasons  before  at  a  southern  vil- 
lage. He  was  noted  for  his  brutality  and 
hard  bargaining. 

"What's  all  the  noise  about?"  he  growled. 
His  voice  was  deep  and  gruff. 

Ootah  staggered  back. 

"Annadoah,  Annadoah,"  he  moaned  softly, 
supporting  himself  on  the  upstander  of  his 
loaded  sled. 

Olafaksoah  strode  forward  with  great  steps, 
scowling.  He  critically  surveyed  the  loads  of 
blubber  and  gleaming  walrus  tusks. 

"Good  haul,  boy — good  haul!  Game's 
been  pretty  scarce  all  along  the  coast.  It's 
lucky  we  got  here  in  time,  eh,  comrades? 
What'll  you  take"— he  turned  to  Ootah— "I 
don't  know  your  name."  He  spoke  in  broken 
Eskimo. 


68  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

"Ootah,"  Annadoah  whispered,  "that  is  his 
name.  Ha-ha,  thou  callest  him  a  boy." 
Ootah  winced. 

Olafaksoah,  with  heavy  strides,  passed 
down  the  line  of  sledges.  Turning  to  his  men, 
he  called: 

"Bring  the  junk." 

A  sled  of  matches,  needles,  tea,  biscuits, 
knives,  tin  cups,  a  few  hatchets,  and  several 
guns  and  cases  of  ammunition  were  brought. 
While  these  were  unloaded  a  half-dozen  eager 
natives  hastened  into  their  tents  and  hurriedly 
brought  out  their  portions  of  the  preciously 
preserved  skins  and  ivories  of  the  meagre  sum- 
mer hunt.  Clamorous,  insistent,  they  pre- 
sented these  to  Olafaksoah.  They  clustered 
around  him  so  that  he  could  not  walk.  Ootah 
watched  as  the  bargaining  began.  He  saw 
Annadoah  clinging  near  the  white  trader.  A 
number  of  the  white  men  began  dickering 
down  the  line  with  Arnaluk. 

"Load  blubber — one  tin  cup — box  black 
powder." 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  69 

Arnaluk  shook  his  head.  Olafaksoah  cuffed 
him  with  his  fist.  The  timid  native  did  not 
have  the  courage  to  resent  this  brutality. 

"What  d'ye  want,  you  greedy  savage — two 
boxes  matches!" 

"Two  boxes  matches — one  box  shooting  fire 
— one  tin  cup.'* 

Still  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  part  with 
the  precious  meat.  Olafaksoah  swore  and 
shook  his  fists.  Fearful  of  offending  the 
stranger,  the  women  joined  in  and  shrieked 
at  Arnaluk,  urging  him  to  consent. 

Unprotesting,  he  let  them  draw  away  his 
sled  of  blubber  and  tusks.  He  had  a  tin  cup, 
matches  and  cartridges — which  he  could  not 
eat. 

"Rotten  lot,"  Olafaksoah  said  to  Papik, 
surveying  his  single  catch  of  a  young  walrus. 
Papik  winced  at  this  reproach. 

"Two  boxes  fire  powder,"  said  Olafaksoah. 
Papik  refused.  Olafaksoah  browbeat  him  in 
a  high  voice.  Finally  he  kicked  him.  "One 
case  needles."  He  called  Papik's  mother  and 


70  THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN 

chucked  her  under  the  chin.  She  smiled  at 
him,  awed,  flattered,  half  afraid.  Papik 
parted  with  his  load  for  a  box  of  ammunition 
and  a  few  needles.  Meanwhile  the  bartering 
went  on  for  the  hoarded  wealth  of  the  tribe. 
Eager  to  precede  one  another,  the  natives 
rushed  to  and  fro,  bringing  armfuls  of  ivor- 
ies and  furs  from  their  tents.  In  exchange 
for  stuff  of  trifling  value  the  white  men  se- 
cured, by  their  method  of  threatening  bargain- 
ing, loads  of  blue  and  white  fox  skins,  caribou 
hides,  and  walrus  and  narwhal  tusks  which 
the  natives  had  previously  preserved.  One 
man  parted  with  five  tusks,  worth  as  many 
hundred  dollars,  for  two  gaudy  handkerchiefs 
for  his  wife.  Another  gave  several  exquisite 
fox  skins  for  a  plug  of  tobacco.  When  they 
demanded  more  biscuits,  tobacco  or  matches 
than  were  offered,  Olafaksoah  bullied  them 
with  threats.  Yet  they  hung  about  him,  eager 
for  the  almost  worthless  barter,  for  the  time 
being  valuing  a  box  of  crackers  and  allot- 
ments of  tea  more  than  their  substantial  sup- 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  71 

ply  of  walrus  meat.  Finally  the  leader  paused 
before  Ootah's  loaded  sledges. 

"What '11  you  take — a  gun,  fire-powder?" 

Ootah  shook  his  head. 

Olafaksoah  had  recourse  to  his  stock-in- 
trade  of  oaths,  and  told  his  men  to  bring  a 
gun,  two  hatchets,  ammunition. 

Ootah  was  still  obdurate.  The  natives' 
voices  arose  murmurously,  for  they  felt  it 
was  not  well  to  offend  the  strangers.  During 
future  seasons  they  might  not  come  again,  as 
they  threatened,  with  ammunition  and  guns. 
This  the  natives  feared  as  a  calamity. 

"Bring  some  crackers — tea,"  Olafaksoah 
paused.  Ootah  watched  Annadoah  nestling 
near  the  "white  trader."  He  had  forgotten  all 
about  the  sledges  of  meat.  He  did  not  hear 
Olafaksoah.  He  still  continued  shaking  his 
head. 

"I'll  be  liberal  with  you,  son,"  Olafaksoah 
indulgently  increased  his  offer. 

Six  more  boxes  of  ammunition,  more  tea 
and  crackers  were  added  to  the  pile. 


72  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

Ootah  again  mechanically  shook  his  head. 
Amid  all  of  those  about  him,  he  saw  only  the 
face  of  Annadoah,  golden  as  sunlight  and 
pink  as  the  lichen  blossoms  of  spring. 
Through  her  open  ahttee,  or  fur  garment,  he 
saw  her  breasts  as  tender  as  those  of  eider- 
feathered  birds.  The  sight  of  her  melted  his 
heart,  the  streams  of  spring  were  loosened 
within  him.  Yet,  with  an  agonized  pang,  he 
observed  her  gaze  adoringly  and  eagerly  at 
the  tall  stranger's  hard  face ;  he  saw  her  quiver 
at  the  sound  of  his  harsh,  gruff  voice.  Olafak- 
soah's  brutal  masculinity  for  the  time  domi- 
nated the  shrinking  femininity  of  the  girl. 
Ootah  saw  Annadoah  beseechingly,  almost 
fawningly,  touch  the  white  chief's  horny  hand 
and  nestle  it  close  against  her  cheek. 

Olaf,  the  trader,  was  oblivious  to  this. 

"Greedy,  eh?  Well,  we  need  the  meat!  If 
we're  goin'  to  stay  here  to  chance  hunting 
our  dogs  got  to  be  fed!"  More  supplies  were 
brought.  Still  Ootah  did  not  speak. 

The  white  chief  presently  gazed  hard  at 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  73 

Ootah.  Then  his  eyes  brightened  with  amused 
mirth.  He  saw  the  despairing,  yearning  gaze 
of  the  youth  toward  the  girl  he  had  selected  to 
favor. 

"Ha,  ha,  ha!"  he  laughed  good-naturedly. 
"I  see.  I've  keel-hauled  your  Romeo  stunt, 
eh?  Want  the  stuff?"  He  kicked  the  sup- 
plies interrogatively. 

Ootah  sadly  shook  his  head.  He  dully 
heard  the  vulgar  gibes  of  the  white  men  and 
the  mocking  laughter  of  Maisanguaq. 

One  of  the  natives  began  beating  a  drum. 
Ootah  giddily  caught  an  evanescent  vision  of 
women  dancing  with  reeling  traders.  He 
heard  Olafaksoah  as  he  entered  Annadoah's 
tent  laughing  heartily. 

The  thought  of  Annadoah  in  the  embrace 
of  the  big  blond  man,  of  her  face  pressed  to 
his  in  the  white  men's  strange  kiss  of  abom- 
ination, aroused  in  Ootah  a  sense  of  violation, 
an  instinctive  repugnance  akin  to  the  horror  a 
native  feels  for  the  dead.  All  the  ardent 
hopes  of  his  life  for  many  moons  had  centered 


74  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

upon  his  bringing  the  results  of  a  successful 
hunt  to  Annadoah  and  asking  her  to  share  his 
igloo,  to  become  his  wife.  And  now,  in  his 
hour  of  high  victory,  after  everyone  had  ac- 
claimed him,  he  was  crushed. 

A  fervid  fever  seemed  to  take  fire  in  his 
forehead  and  flush  his  veins,  yet  his  heart  was 
colder  than  ice,  his  hands  and  feet  were  cold. 
He  felt  as  though  someone  were  strangling 
him;  he  felt  giddy,  suddenly  sick.  At  that 
moment  he  was  too  stunned  to  realize  fully 
the  blighting  tragedy  which  had  annihilated 
his  hopes. 

Nearby  in  her  tent  he  heard  Annadoah's 
voice,  sweet  as  the  song  of  buntings. 

"Olafaksoah,  Olafaksoah,"  he  heard  her 
murmur  tenderly,  "thou  art  a  great  man. 
Thou  art  strong.  Thy  arms  hurt  me,  thy 
hands  make  me  ache."  Then  Ootah  heard 
the  man's  hard  voice  and  Annadoah's  re- 
pressed murmurs  of  mingled  pain  and  delight. 
The  day  became  black  about  him.  He  felt 
that  he  must  get  away;  a  wild  madness  to 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  75 

run  seized  him.  He  felt  the  impetus  of  the 
winds  in  his  feet.  Turning  on  his  heel,  his 
face  to  the  northwest,  he  fled. 

In  the  sky  overhead  the  black  guillemot 
screamed. 


Ill 

"Her  lips  are  red — red  as  a  wound  in  the  throat 
of  a  deer" 

FOR  seven  weeks  Ootah  lived  in  the  moun- 
tains. The  violence  of  his  bitterness 
and  grief  scared  away  the  wild  hawks  in  whose 
high  nesting  place  he  found  shelter.  At  the 
door  of  that  icy  cave  above  the  clouds,  he  called 
upon  the  spirits  of  the  mountains  for  ven- 
geance. 

"loh—ioh!"  he  wailed.  "Spirits  of  the 
glaciers,  lift  your  hands — strike!  Descend 
and  smite  Olafaksoah!  carry  him  to  the  nar- 
whals ;  let  the  whales  feed  upon  his  body.  May 
the  soul  of  his  hands,  and  the  soul  of  his  feet, 
and  the  soul  of  his  heart,  and  the  soul  of  his 
head  struggle  with  one  another.  May  he  never 
rest !  loh — ioh — ioh — ioh!" 

76 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  77 

The  boom  of  sliding  avalanches  answered 
him.  The  sound  was  like  that  of  muffled  thun- 
der. Wild  cries  arose  from  the  mountain 
birds.  They  sounded  demoniacal  in  the  taut 
air. 

Far  below  soared  the  black  vultures  of  the 
arctic.  In  a  fit  of  anger  Ootah  shook  his  arms 
frantically  at  the  shrieking  birds.  For  they 
seemed  to  mock  him. 

"Spirits  of  the  clouds,"  he  wailed.  ffloh — 
ioh — ioh-h!  Ye  that  wander  to  the  south !  Ye 
that  fly  to  the  north !  Ye  that  struggle  hither 
and  yon,  from  the  east  to  the  west.  Bear  my 
curses  to  Annadoah.  Tell  her  that  the  heart 
of  Ootah  is  bitter.  Tell  her  Ootah  would  that 
her  voice  become  as  harsh  as  the  winds  of 
ookiah  (winter).  Tell  her  Ootah  would  that 
her  face  become  withered  as  frozen  lands  in 
winter.  Tell  her  Ootah  would  that  her  heart 
rot  within  her,  that  the  wild  beasts  feed  upon 
her  breasts.  Ioh-h — ioh-h-h!  Sing  unto  her 
the  curses  of  Ootah,  and  may  she  not  rest!" 

Below  him  the  clouds,  burning  with  vivid 


78  THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN 

fire,  moved  in  the  varying  strata  of  air  currents 
— to  Ootah  they  were  conveying  his  messages. 
The  sun,  circling  low  about  the  horizon,  shifted 
its  rays,  and  within  the  nebulous  cloud-masses 
in  the  valleys,  fountains  of  prism  light  played. 
In  this  radiant  plantasmagoria  messages  in 
turn  came  to  Ootah. 

He  saw  the  figuration  of  Annadoah's  tent, 
and  within,  reclining  upon  her  couch,  the  form 
of  Annadoah.  At  the  mirage  picture  of  the 
beauteous  and  beloved  maiden  his  heart 
throbbed  violently.  In  the  high  altitude  he 
found  respiration  difficult,  and  now  he  almost 
suffocated  for  lack  of  breath.  He  felt  a  pang 
at  his  heart  as  he  saw  the  white  chief  enter  the 
tent.  The  winds  wailed  sibilant  and  agonizing 
messages  into  the  ears  of  Ootah: 

"Thou  hast  cursed  Annadoah.  Foolish 
Ootah !  For  thou  lovest  Annadoah !  Yea,  her 
voice  is  as  sweet  as  the  sound  of  melting 
streams  in  springtime.  Lo,  she  whispers  into 
the  ears  of  Olafaksoah:  'Thou  art  strong, 
Olafaksoah;  Ootah  hath  the  heart  of  a  worn- 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  79 

an.  Thou  hurtest  me,  Olafaksoah;  thy  arms 
hruise  me,  thy  hands  make  me  ache;  but  thou 
art  strong,  thou  art  great,  Olafaksoah;  the 
heart  of  Annadoah  trembles  for  joy  of  thee.' 
Thus  saith  Annadoah!" 

And  in  the  winds  Ootah  heard  Olafaksoah's 
coarse  laughter. 

e(Ioh — ioh-h-h!"  Ootah  moaned. 

"Thou  wouldst  that  Annadoah's  face  be 
blighted  as  frozen  land  in  winter,"  laughed  the 
winds,  mockingly.  "Thou  dotard  Ootah! 
Thou  lovest  the  face  of  Annadoah.  It  is  very 
fair.  It  is  golden  as  the  radiant  face  of  Sukh- 
eh-nukh.  Her  eyes  are  as  bright  as  stars  in 
the  winter  night.  Oh-h-h,  Ootah!  Into  the 
eyes  of  Olafaksoah  Annadoah  gazes,  yea,  she 
faints  with  joy,  thou  silly  Ootah!" 

" loh — ioh-h-h!"  wailed  Ootah. 

"Her  lips  are  red,  Ootah — red  as  a  wound 
in  the  throat  of  a  deer." 

And  in  the  cloud  vision  Ootah  saw  the 
blond  chief  take  the  head  of  Annadoah  be- 
tween his  two  palms  and  press  her  lips  fiercely 


80  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

upon  his  own.  Ootah's  heart  trembled  as  wa- 
ter. 

"loli — io-li-h!"  he  sobbed,  and  tears  coursed 
from  his  eyes. 

The  constant  haunting  thought  of  Anna- 
doah's  face  pressed  close  to  that  of  Olafaksoah 
somehow  made  his  face  burn  and  his  bosom 
ache. 

"Ootah,  Ootah,  thou  wouldst  that  Anna- 
doah's  heart  might  wither,  yea,  as  a  frozen 
bird  in  the  blast  of  winter.  Foolish  Ootah, 
who  lovest  Annadoah!  Soft  beats  the  heart 
of  Annadoah  upon  the  bosom  of  Olafaksoah; 
yea,  for  very  joy  it  flutters  as  a  mating  bird 
in  summer  time.  Thou  wouldst  that  beasts 
might  rend  her  little  breasts — safe  are  they 
now  in  the  embrace  of  the  strong  man  from 
the  south.  Ootah!  Ootah!" 

Ootah  wrung  his  hands. 

"Thy  curses  fall  dead  upon  the  ears  of  An- 
nadoah, she  who  hears  only  the  voice  of  Olaf- 
aksoah." 

In  the  winds  Ootah  heard  the  whisper  of 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  81 

Olafaksoah  in  the  dim  tent.  He  heard  Anna- 
doah's  rapturously  murmurous  replies. 

"Olafaksoah  shareth  the  igloo  of  Anna- 
doah,"  whispered  the  winds  suggestively.  And 
Ootah  knew  the  Eskimo  custom. 

Annadoah,  by  sharing  her  simple  habitation 
with  him,  had  by  choice  formally  become  the 
wife  of  Olafaksoah.  And  according  to  the  un- 
written law  of  ages  she  was  now  as  much  his 
property  as  his  dogs.  He  might  abuse  her, 
and  desert — and  thus  divorce — her  whenever 
he  chose.  She  might,  at  his  pleasure,  be  loaned 
as  a  wife  to  another,  and  in  this  she  would  have 
no  word.  Or  she  might  be  given  away,  and 
dare  not  protest.  Ootah  felt  that  she  was  lost 
to  him  irretrievably. 

For  hours  Ootah  stood  at  the  mouth  of  his 
mountain  eyrie  in  dumb  agony.  All  that  he 
suffered  it  is  beyond  me  to  tell  you.  For  days 
he  crouched  there,  motionless,  stark  dumb, 
every  fibre  of  him  aching. 

In  the  valleys  below,  as  the  hours  of  the 


82  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

burning  days  and  golden  nights  passed,  the 
sunlight  constantly  shifted.  In  the  palpitating 
mists  Ootah  read  of  the  days'  doings  at  the 
camp.  He  saw  the  white  men  bartering  for 
the  meagre  remaining  furs  and  ivories  gath- 
ered by  the  tribe.  With  the  natives  he  saw 
them  going  on  long  fruitless  hunts.  Finally 
one  day  he  witnessed  them  harpoon  a  half 
dozen  walrus  on  the  sea.  They  laboriously 
towed  the  catch  ashore  and  rejoiced  over  the 
unexpected  wealth  of  oil  and  blubber.  But  the 
white  men  claimed  the  entire  prize,  loaded  their 
extra  sledges,  liberally  fed  their  dogs,  and 
doled  out  but  a  penurious  allotment  of  meat 
and  blubber  to  the  tribe. 

But  in  all  this  Ootah  had  no  concern.  Day 
by  day  the  cloud-swimming  valleys  below 
blazed  with  crimson-shot  conflagrations  .  .  . 
Ootah  knew  the  dead  were  lighting  their 
monstrous  camp  fires — but  even  in  this  he 
found  no  interest.  Daily  he  became  fainter 
and  fainter  from  lack  of  food,  and  daily,  con- 
stantly, the  winds  whispered: 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  83 

"The  mouth  of  Annadoah  is  very  red — red 
as  a  wound  in  the  throat  of  a  deer  .  .  ." 
and  then  sibilantly — "softly  beats  the  heart  of 
Annadoah  against  the  bosom  of  Olafaksoah." 
Then  every  fibre  of  him  burned  and  ached. 

One  day  the  radiant  valley  darkened  .  .  . 
Out  of  the  sky,  as  if  rising  from  worlds  beyond 
the  horizon,  a  cyclopean  phantasm  of  clouds 
took  form.  Rising  higher  and  higher  toward 
the  zenith,  ominous  and  sinister,  it  gathered 
substance  and  spread  across  the  glowing 
heavens  like  a  film  of  smoke  ...  It  took 
upon  itself  the  awful  semblance  of  a  mighty 
thing,  half-beast,  half-man.  As  if  to  strike,  it 
slowly  lifted  the  likeness  of  a  gigantic  arm 
shrouded  with  tattered  clouds  .  .  .  The 
baleful  shade  shut  off  the  sunlight  from  the 
earth  .  .  .  Ootah's  heart  quailed  .  .  . 
Terror  gripped  him  .  .  .  For  he  saw — 
what  few  men  had  ever  beheld — the  shadow  of 
Perdlugssuaq,  the  Great  Evil.  Finally  he 
found  voice. 

"O  most  dreadful  of  the  tornarssuit  (spir- 


84  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

its),"  he  called,  grovelling  on  his  knees,  "smite 
me!  Smite  me!" 

During  the  tragic  days  of  his  isolation  the 
full  realization  of  all  that  he  had  lost  had  come 
to  Ootah.  He  fed  upon  the  memory  of  An- 
nadoah's  face.  He  remembered  how,  with  the 
vision  of  that  face  before  him,  he  had  excelled 
in  the  hunts  and  games,  and  for  many  moons 
had  felt  confident  of  winning  her.  He  dwelt 
for  hours  upon  her  stunning  rejection,  of  how 
she  clung  to  the  white  man;  he  visioned  with 
heart  corroding  bitterness  her  days  with  Olaf- 
aksoah,  and  he  burned  with  unnameable  an- 
guished pangs  as  he  conjured  her  nights. 
Now,  the  violence  of  his  grief  exhausted,  he 
invoked  death. 

Expectant,  fearful,  with  closed  eyes,  he 
waited. 

In  the  valley  a  storm  gathered,  and  the  low 
whine  of  the  winds  Ootah  believed  to  be  the 
breath  of  the  descending  terror.  The  air  be- 
came unbearably  colder  as  the  dreaded  creator 
of  death,  darkness  and  ice  descended.  The 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  85 

taut  suspense  was  terrible.  Finally  Ootah 
reached  the  limits  of  human  endurance — 
merciful  unconsciousness  blotted  out  the  long 
agony. 

When  he  recovered  the  storm  had  passed. 
Scores  of  birds,  driven  against  the  rocks  by 
the  terrible  winds,  lay  dead  at  the  entrance  of 
the  cave.  Surely  the  Great  Evil  had  struck, 
but  he  lived.  Hunger  stirred  within  him  and 
he  fell  upon  the  birds. 

Later  he  sought  game  in  the  lower  valleys. 
He  had  lances  and  bows  and  arrows  with  him. 
He  found  an  inland  vale,  where  a  patch  of 
green  grass  was  exposed  despite  a  recent  fall 
of  snow — there  a  herd  of  musk  oxen  grazed. 
He  drew  his  bow  of  bone  and  sinew.  One  fell 
after  the  first  quiver  of  his  arrow.  His  skill 
was  marvellous.  He  had  struck  a  vital  spot. 
He  finished  his  killing  of  the  fallen  animal 
with  a  lance.  He  feasted  upon  the  raw  meat, 
and  carried  away  with  him  up  to  his  eyrie 
enough  to  last  for  many  days. 

The  sun  meanwhile  sank  lower  and  lower; 


86  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

there  were  long  hours  of  twilight ;  snow  storms 
came;  the  cold  increased.  Ootah  felt  the  first 
whip  of  approaching  winter.  Ootah's  spirit 
melted.  Disquieting  messages  came  in  the 
cold  winds  and  darkening  clouds.  His  heart 
beat  quickly  at  what  the  frightened  birds  told 
him.  Olafaksoah,  they  said,  struck  Annadoah. 
As  she  lay  on  the  ground  he  kicked  her.  In 
the  snow-driven  wind  Ootah  heard  the  echo  of 
her  heart-broken  weeping.  He  revoked  the 
curses  he  had  uttered ;  he  cursed  his  own  weak- 
ness whereby  he  had  invoked  harm  to  her. 
Then  in  the  winds  Ootah  heard  the  beat  of 
drums.  In  the  clouds  he  saw  the  white  men 
dancing  with  the  Eskimo  maidens.  Day  after 
day  they  danced — day  after  day  Annadoah 
wept.  Olafaksoah  had  become  wearied.  Dis- 
appointed in  the  failure  to  secure  greater  sup- 
plies, he  vented  his  impatience  upon  Anna- 
doah. Cruelly  he  bruised  her  little  hands,  he 
mocked  and  jeered  her  when  she  pleaded  with 
him.  In  fits  of  anger  he  often  struck  her. 
Finally,  one  day,  in  the  cloud  phantasmagoria, 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  87 

Ootah  saw  Olaf aksoah  reeling  from  the  strange 
red-gold  water  the  white  men  drank.  He  en- 
tered Annadoah's  tent.  She  crouched,  terri- 
fied, in  a  corner.  With  him  were  three  of  his 
rough  blond  companions.  They  staggered — 
and  in  the  winds  they  sang.  Olafaksoah 
pointed  consentingly  to  Annadoah.  One  of 
the  men  attempted  to  embrace  her.  Then  she 
rose  defiantly  and  did  what  few  Eskimo 
women  ever  dared.  She  smote  the  man's  leer- 
ing face  and,  sobbing,  sank  on  her  knees  be- 
fore Olafaksoah.  He  roared  out  things  the 
Eskimos  do  not  understand.  "Godalmighty!" 
and  more  awful  words.  His  fist  descended. 
In  the  winds  Ootah  heard  Annadoah  scream 
and  call  his  name. 

That  day  he  descended  from  the  mountains. 

Much  that  Ootah  conjured  in  his  mind,  or 
imagined  he  saw  in  the  clouds,  really  hap- 
pened. Whether  he  actually  sensed  these 
things  by  some  wonderful  power  of  clairvoy- 
ance, which  the  natives  themselves  believe — 


88  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

or  whether  he  just  accurately  guessed  what 
occurred,  I  do  not  know.  But  of  this  I  can 
tell: 

By  that  strange  contradictoriness  of  the 
feminine — much  the  same  all  the  world  over — 
by  that  inherent,  inborn  desire  of  subjugation 
to  the  brutal  and  domineering  in  the  male,  An- 
nadoah  had  given  herself  unreservedly  to 
Olafaksoah.  At  the  sound  of  his  firm  step  she 
trembled.  His  hard,  brutal  embraces  caused 
her  heart  to  flutter  with  joy.  At  first  he  told 
her  he  would  take  her  with  him  to  the  south. 
Annadoah  believed  him.  Then  he  changed  his 
mind,  and  said  she  must  wait  until  the  next 
season  for  him.  She  silently  acquiesced.  She 
called  upon  all  her  simple  arts  to  please  him. 
Carefully  she  oiled  her  face  and  made  the 
golden  skin  soft  by  rubbing  it  with  the  fur  of 
animals;  with  a  broken  comb,  left  with  her 
mother  years  before  by  a  party  of  explorers, 
she  combed  her  long,  black  and  wonderful  hair 
and  elaborately  arranged  it  behind  her.  About 
her  forehead  she  bound  a  narrow  fillet  of  fine, 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  89 

furry  hares'  skin.  She  donned  new  garments ; 
her  ahttee  was  made  of  the  delicate  skins  of 
birds,  her  hood  of  white  fox  hides.  To  all  this 
Olafaksoah  seemed  blind ;  at  times,  with  coarse, 
half-maudlin  tenderness,  he  caressed  her,  called 
her  his  "little  girl"  and  promised  to  "come 
back  next  spring."  But  Annadoah  was  useful 
to  him  otherwise. 

During  the  days  when  Olafaksoah  and  his 
men  were  hunting  or  gathering  furs  and  ivory 
at  nearby  villages  along  the  coast,  Annadoah 
sewed  skins  into  garments  for  Olafaksoah  and 
his  men.  Sometimes  she  went  with  Olafak- 
soah on  his  expeditions  and  employed  her  co- 
quetry upon  the  susceptible  men  of  the  mi- 
grating tribes  to  secure  bargains  for  him.  For 
a  box  of  matches  she  would  cajole  from  her 
people  ivories  worth  hundreds  of  dollars.  She 
persuaded  them  to  rob  themselves  of  the  wal- 
rus meat  and  blubber  they  had  gathered  for 
winter  and  give  them  to  her  master  in  ex- 
change for  tin  cups  and  ammunition,  all  of 
which  would  be  useless  when  the  night  came 


90  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

on.  To  Ootah  she  gave  no  thought  until  one 
day  the  white  man  struck  her.  As  he  vented 
his  rage  at  not  securing  more  riches  upon  her 
during  the  ensuing  days,  her  heart  more  and 
more  instinctively  turned  to  the  youth  "with 
the  heart  of  a  woman"  whom  she  had  rejected. 
When  Olafaksoah  brought  his  companions  to 
the  tent  her  soul  rose  in  rebellion.  In  the 
camp  there  was  an  orgy.  None  of  the  mar- 
ried men,  who  for  a  slight  consideration  were 
willing  to  permit  their  wives  to  dance  with  the 
traders,  objected  to  the  drunken  carousal. 
Ribald  songs  sounded  strange  in  this  region 
of  the  world.  Yet  after  Olafaksoah  had 
kicked  her  and  left  her  lying  in  the  tent,  high 
above  the  sound  of  the  sailors'  doggerel  songs, 
Annadoah  frantically  called  aloud: 

"Ootah!    Ootah!" 

For  a  long  time  she  lay  in  a  stupor.  Her 
face  was  bleeding.  When  she  regained  con- 
sciousness the  white  chief  and  his  men  had  left. 
They  had  taken  with  them  all  available  furs, 
ivories  and  provisions  in  the  village. 


THE  ETEKNAL   MAIDEN  91' 

At  the  door  of  her  tent  Annadoah  stood, 
dry-eyed,  her  hair  dishevelled.  To  the  south 
she  yearningly  extended  her  arms.  Her  heart 
still  ached  toward  the  man  who  had  lied  to  her 
and  deserted  her.  She  was  left,  a  divorced 
woman,  alone  among  her  people,  with  no  one 
to  care  for  her  during  the  long  winter  night. 

As  she  stood  there  the  light  of  the  descend- 
ing sun,  which  was  now  far  below  the  rim  of 
the  horizon,  paled.  Driven  by  a  frigid  wind, 
howling  raucously  from  the  mountains,  great 
snow  clouds  piled  along  the  sky  line.  Out  at 
sea  the  tips  of  the  waves  became  capped — 
leprous  white  arms  seemed  reaching  hopelessly 
for  help  from  the  depths  of  the  sea.  The  sky 
blackened.  The  increasing  gusts  tore  at  the 
frail  tents.  The  wolf-dogs  crouched  low  to 
the  ground  and  whined.  A  tremor  of  anxiety 
filled  the  hearts  of  the  tribe.  Presently  the 
clouds  were  torn  to  shreds  and  whipped  furi- 
ously over  the  sky.  In  the  thickening  grey 
gloom  Annadoah  watched  the  men  of  the  tribe 
fastening  their  sleds  and  belongings  to  the 


92  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

earth  .  .  .  mere  dark  shadows.  Above 
her  tent,  tossed  hy  the  wind  in  its  eddying 
flight,  a  raven  screamed. 

Annadoah  finally  entered  and  threw  herself 
upon  the  rocky  floor  of  her  dwelling.  As  the 
furies  were  loosed  outside  her  voice  rose  and 
fell  with  the  wailing  grief  and  wrath  of  the 
wind.  "Olafaksoah!  Olafaksoah!"  But  only 
the  hoarse  evil  call  of  the  black  bird  answered 
during  lulls  in  the  storm.  And  Annadoah 
heard  it,  with  a  sinking  of  her  cold  heart,  as 
the  voice  of  fate. 


IV 

( fDo  the  gulls  that  freeze  to  death  in  winter 
fly  in  springtime?'  she  asked,  simply.  .  . 
'The  teeth  of  the  wolves  are  in  my  heart3  .  .  " 

DESOLATE  and  alone,  Annadoah 
walked  along  a  crevice  in  the  land- 
adhering  ice  of  the  polar  sea. 

The  prolonged  grey  evening  of  the  arctic 
was  resolving  into  the  long  dark,  and  the  Es- 
kimo women,  as  is  their  custom  at  this  time  of 
the  year,  had  gathered  along  the  last  lane  of 
open  water — which  writhed  like  a  sable  snake 
over  the  ice — to  celebrate  that  period  of 
mourning  which  precedes  the  dreadful  night, 
and  to  give  their  last  messages  and  farewells 
to  the  unhappy  and  disconsolate  souls  of  the 
drowned,  who,  when  the  ice  closed,  should  for 
many  moons  be  imprisoned  -in  the  sea. 

An  unearthly  twilight,  not  unlike  that  dim 
93 


94  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

greenish  luminescence  which  filters  through 
emerald  panes  in  the  high  nave  of  a  great  ca- 
thedral, lay  upon  the  earth.  The  forms  of  the 
mourning  women  were  strangely  magnified  in 
the  curious  semi-luminance  and,  as  their  bodies 
moved  to  and  fro  in  the  throes  of  their  grief, 
they  might  have  been,  for  all  they  seemed, 
shadowy  ghosts  bemoaning  their  sins  in  some 
weird  purgatory  of  the  dead. 

In  the  northern  sky  a  faint  quivering  streak 
of  light,  resembling  the  reflection  of  far  away 
lightning,  played — the  first  herald  of  the  au- 
rora. To  the  south  a  gash  of  reddish  orange, 
like  the  tip  of  a  bloody-gleaming  knife-blade, 
severed  the  thick  purple  clouds.  There  was 
a  faint  reflected  glimmer  on  the  unfrozen 
southern  sea. 

Snow  had  fallen  on  the  land,  igloos  had  been 
built.  Over  the  village  and  against  the  frozen 
promontories  loomed  a  majestic  yet  fearful 
shadowy  shape — that  of  a  giant  thing, 
swathed  in  purple,  its  arm  uplifted  threaten- 
ingly— the  spectre  of  suffering  and  famine. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  95 

This  wraith,  brought  into  being  by  the  gather- 
ing blackness  in  the  gulches  and  crevices  of  the 
mountains,  filled  the  hearts  of  the  natives  with 
unwonted  foreboding. 

Profound  silence  prevailed. 

Already  the  sea  for  miles  along  the  shore 
was  frozen.  The  open  water  lay  at  so  great 
a  distance  from  the  land  that  the  sound  of  the 
waves  was  stilled.  The  birds  had  disappeared. 
Even  the  voices  of  the  sinister  black  guillemots 
and  ravens  were  heard  no  more. 

Annadoah's  sobs  rose  softly  over  the  ice. 

"Spirit  of  my  mother,  thou  who  wast  car- 
ried by  the  storm- winds  into  the  sea!  Hear 
me!  Annadoah  loved  one  Olafaksoah,  a  chief 
from  the  south ;  for  him  the  heart  of  Annadoah 
became  very  great  within  her.  And  now  the 
heart  of  Annadoah  aches.  For  he  hath  gone 
to  the  south.  And  not  until  the  birds  sing  in 
spring  will  he  return.  And  Annadoah  is  left 
alone.  Ookiah  comes  with  the  lash  of  wicked 
walrus  thongs,  and  there  is  no  blubber  buried 
outside  Annadoah's  shelter.  Neither  is  there 


96  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

oil.  And  the  couch  of  Annadoah  is  cold— 
so  very  cold.  Yea,  listen,  spirit  of  my  mother, 
and  bring  Olafaksoah  back,  that  he  may  bruise 
Annadoah's  hands,  that  he  may  cast  Anna- 
doah to  the  ground  and  crush  Annadoah  if  he 
wills  with  his  feet!  lo-oh-h!" 

She  moaned  this  in  a  curious  sing-song  sort 
of  chant.  Over  the  ice  the  voices  of  the  other 
women  rose,  and  each,  to  her  departed  rela- 
tives and  friends  who  had  died  in  the  sea,  told 
about  the  important  incidents  of  the  year  and 
the  misgivings  for  the  winter,  in  a  varying 
crooning  song. 

Annadoah  passed  Tongiguaq,  who  jumped 
and  danced  in  a  frenzy  of  grief.  Tongiguaq 
had  lost  three  children ;  two  had  been  drowned, 
and  a  new-born  baby,  three  months  before, 
was  born  maimed.  According  to  the  custom 
of  the  people,  a  fatherless  defective  child  is 
doomed  to  death.  So  rigorous  is  their  strug- 
gle to  survive,  so  limited  the  means  of  exis- 
tence, that  a  tribe  cannot  bear  the  burden  of 
a  single  unnecessary  life.  So  in  keeping  with 


THE   ETEENAL    MAIDEN  97 

this  Lycurgean  law,  worked  out  by  instinct 
after  the  stern  experience  of  ages,  a  rope  had 
been  twisted  about  the  neck  of  Tongiguaq's 
baby  and  it  had  been  cast  into  the  sea. 

All  this  the  weeping  woman  told  in  her 
chant  to  the  departed.  When  she  saw  Anna- 
doah  approaching,  she  paused. 

"Here  cometh  the  she-wolf  that  hath  de- 
voured the  food  of  our  tribe,"  she  wailed,  in- 
tense bitterness  in  her  voice.  "Yea,  by  her 
cajolery  she  persuaded  our  men  to  give  unto 
the  traders  from  the  south  our  precious  food. 
And  now  we  starve !  Yea,  she  hath  robbed  us. 
She  is  as  the  breath  of  winter,  as  the  black- 
ness of  the  night." 

Along  the  line  of  wailing  women  Tongi- 
guaq's  reproach  was  suddenly  taken  up.  As 
Annadoah  walked  by  them  they  did  a  strange 
thing.  The  natives  fear  their  dead — they 
never  even  mention  their  names.  For  pos- 
sessed of  great  power  are  the  dead,  and  they 
can  wreak,  as  befits  their  moods,  unlimited 
good  or  ill.  Believing  they  could  persuade 


98  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

the  dead  to  array  themselves  against  Anna- 
doah,  the  women  took  up  Tongiguaq's  denun- 
ciation and  reviled  Annadoah  in  their  weird 
chant  to  the  departed.  Annadoah  wrung  her 
hands  and  wept.  Bitter  and  jealous  because 
the  white  chief  had  selected  her  during  his  stay, 
their  bosoms  full  of  the  harbored  ill  will  and 
envy  of  years  because  she  had  been  the  most 
desired  by  the  young  men  of  the  tribes,  the 
women  now  invoked  curses  upon  the  deserted 
and  unprotected  girl  through  the  medium  of 
the  incorporeal  powers. 

The  dread  of  it  filled  poor  Annadoah's 
heart.  She  quailed  at  the  bitter  execrations 
called  upon  her  head.  Instinctively  her  hand 
reached  through  the  opening  of  her  dhttee  and 
she  clutched  at  a  piece  of  old  half-decayed 
skin.  This  was  a  remnant  of  her  mother's 
father's  clothing,  a  amulet  given  her  as  a 
child,  when  saliva  from  the  maternal  grand- 
father's mouth  had  been  rubbed  on  her  lips, 
and  which  she  believed  protected  her  from  ill 
fortune. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  99 

"Io-ooh!  io-oh!"  Annadoah  moaned  in 
pain. 

The  women  forgot  their  own  tragedies. 
They  forgot  the  messages  they  were  imparting 
to  the  dead.  Directly  they  might  not  be  able 
to  invoke  any  effective  curse  upon  Annadoah; 
but  well  they  knew,  indeed,  the  awful  power 
of  the  disembodied.  And  to  the  dead  in  the 
cold  shuddering  sea  they  told  how  Annadoah 
had  played  with  the  men,  how  she  had  be- 
trayed them  to  the  white  traders,  cajoling 
them  to  rob  themselves  of  food,  and  how,  be- 
cause of  her,  famine  now  confronted  the  tribe ; 
they  told  of  the  long  devotion  of  Ootah,  the 
desired  of  all  the  maidens,  and  how  Annadoah 
had  rejected  him. 

Possessed  by  a  frantic  contagion  of  released 
rage,  their  voices  rose  and  fell  in  a  frightful 
chanting  malediction.  In  the  weird  gloom 
their  vague  forms  leaped  about,  their  arms 
writhing  like  black  things  in  the  air  as  they 
called  the  names  of  their  individual  dead  to 
hear. 


100  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

As  their  voices  approached  a  crescendo  they 
danced  with  increasing  hysteria.  Some 
shrieked  and  fell  to  the  ice  groaning,  their 
bodies  twisting  in  convulsions.  Others 
laughed  madly — laughed  at  the  dreadful  hor- 
rors with  which  the  dead  would  smite  Anna- 
doah.  Losing  all  control  they  were  carried 
away  by  their  delirious  malevolence;  their 
voices  reached  a  high  shrill  pitch.  Their  arms 
clawed  the  air.  Through  the  dead  curses  were 
invoked  upon  Olafaksoah,  the  great  trader, 
who  had  cowed  them  and  robbed  them.  They 
begged  of  the  tornarssuit  that  he  might  be 
rended  by  wolves,  that  his  body  might  rot  un- 
buried,  and  that  the  spirits  of  his  limbs  might 
be  severed  and  be  compelled  to  wander  in  rest- 
less torment  forever.  They  called  anathemas 
upon  his  unborn  children;  and  of  their  dead, 
who  should  be  imprisoned  in  darkness  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea,  they  furiously  invoked  upon 
Annadoah's  offspring  the  curse  of  the  long 
night  .  .  .  Their  voices  shuddered  over 
the  ice  as  they  demanded  that  most  dreadful 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  101 

of  all  dreaded  evils — that  Annadoah's  child 
might  be  born  as  blind  to  light  and  the  joy  of 
light  as  the  dead  in  the  sea. 

Annadoah  crouched  in  frantic  terror  upon 
the  ice.  From  the  Greenland  highlands  a 
moaning  echo  answered  the  women.  To  An- 
nadoah the  hill  spirits  had  joined  in  cursing 
her — all  nature  seemed  to  upbraid  her.  Trem- 
blingly, with  a  last  lingering  hope,  she  crept 
on  her  knees  to  the  edge  of  the  lane  of  lapping 
black  water.  She  whispered  a  pathetic  plea 
to  Nerrvik,  the  gentle  queen  of  the  sea,  whose 
hand  had  been  severed  by  those  she  loved,  and 
who  felt  great  tenderness  for  men.  Annadoah 
listened. 

"Thou  art  cold  of  heart  to  him  who  loves 
thee,  Annadoah,"  a  voice  seemed  to  whisper  in 
the  lapping  waves.  "Thou  art  beautiful  as  the 
sun,  but  as  Sukh-eh-nukh  shalt  thou  be  eter- 
nally sad.  Thou  shalt  lose  because  of  thine 
own  self  the  greatest  of  all  treasures.  That  is 
fate." 

Far  out  on  the  open  ocean  spectral  fire- 


102  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

flecks  flashed  like  mast-lights  on  swinging 
ships.  These  mysterious  jack  o'  lanterns  of 
the  arctic  are  caused  by  the  crashing  together 
of  icebergs  covered  with  phosphorescent  algae. 

To  Annadoah  the  dead  were  lighting  their 
oil  lamps  for  the  long  night.  As  she  watched 
the  weird  illuminations  a  paralyzing  fear  of 
the  vague  unknown  world  beyond  the  gate  of 
death  filled  her,  and  her  blood  ran  cold.  She 
felt  utterly  crushed,  utterly  helpless,  and  ut- 
terly deserted,  both  in  the  affection  of  the  liv- 
ing and  that  of  the  dead.  She  uttered  a  de- 
spairing cry  and  fell  back  in  a  cold  faint.  The 
women  drew  about  as  if  to  leap  upon  her. 

A  momentary  wavering  of  the  northern 
lights  revealed  her  face  grown  sad  and  wan. 
The  women  stood  still,  however,  for  approach- 
ing in  the  distance  they  heard  a  man's  voice 
calling: 

"A  vatarpay — avatar  pay, 
akorgani — akorgani, 
anagpungah     .     .      " 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  103 

Those  mystic  words,  believed  to  give  magic 
speed  to  the  one  who  utters  them,  came  in  the 
well  known  tones  of  Ootah.  A  joyous  cry 
went  up  from  the  women. 

When  Annadoah  opened  her  eyes  Ootah 
was  bending  over  her. 

"I  was  held  in  the  mountains,  Annadoah. 
The  hill  spirits  were  at  war.  The  snow  came, 
the  storm  spirits  loosed  the  ice.  I  fell  into  an 
abyss  ...  I  lay  asleep  .  .  .  for 
very  long.  It  seemed  like  many  moons.  I 
could  barely  walk  when  I  awoke.  I  had  no 
food.  I  became  very  weak,  but  I  uttered  the 
serrit  (magic  formulae),  those  words  of  the 
days  when  man's  sap  was  stronger,  and  the 
good  winds  bore  me  hither." 

A  mystical  silver  light  had  risen  over  the 
horizon,  and  in  the  soft  glimmer  Annadoah 
saw  that  the  face  of  Ootah  was  haggard  and 
drawn.  His  voice  was  weak. 

"The  sun  hath  gone,"  murmured  Ootah. 
"The  long  night  comes.  Ootah  heard  thy  cry 
and  has  come  to  care  for  thee,  Annadoah." 


104  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

His  voice  was  a  caress.  His  face  sank  dan- 
gerously near  the  face  of  the  girl.  She  panted 
into  full  consciousness  and  struggled  to  free 
herself.  Ootah  helped  her  to  her  feet. 

"The  winter  comes  .  .  .  and  famine," 
muttered  Annadoah,  hopelessly.  She  pointed 
to  the  gaunt,  hollow-eyed  shadow,  empurpled- 
robed,  against  the  frozen  cliffs.  "My  heart  is 
cold — I  am  resigned  to  death." 

"But  I  have  come  to  give  furs  for  thy 
couch,"  murmured  Ootah,  a  beseeching  look  in 
his  eyes.  "Thou  wilt  need  shelter — I  shall 
build  thee  an  igloo.  Thou  wilt  need  food — I 
shall  share  all  that  I  have  with  thee  and  seek 
more.  Thou  wilt  need  oil  for  heat.  I  shall 
get  this  for  thee." 

Annadoah  made  a  passionate  gesture.  A 
curious  perverse  resentment  for  the  youth's  in- 
sistent devotion  rose  in  her  heart. 

"Nay,"  she  said,  warding  him  away.  "My 
shadow  yearns  only  to  the  south  .  .  .  the 
far,  far  south." 

"Thy  soul  yearns  to  the  south — forsooth, 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  105 

will  I  all  the  more  cherish  thee.  Thou  art 
frail,  and  the  teeth  of  ookiah  (winter)  are 
sharp." 

"The  teeth  of  ookiah  are  not  so  sharp  as  the 
teeth  in  my  heart,"  sobbed  Annadoah. 

Ootah  felt  a  great  pity  for  her — a  pity  and 
tenderness  greater  than  his  jealousy. 

"But  I  shall  teach  thee  to  forget,  Anna- 
doah." 

"I  cannot  forget.  Even  as  the  ravens  in 
their  winter  shelter  dream  of  the  summer  sun, 
so  my  soul  grows  warm,  in  all  my  loneliness, 
in  the  memory  of  Olafaksoah." 

Ootah  groaned  with  an  access  of  misery. 
Frenziedly  he  caught  her  hands  and  pressed 
them.  Annadoah  struggled.  His  words  beat 
hotly  in  her  ears : 

"But  I  want  thee.  My  blood  burns  at  the 
thought  of  thee.  It  is  against  the  custom  of 
the  tribe  that  thou  shouldst  be  alone.  Thou 
must  take  a  husband." 

"No — no,"  she  shook  her  head. 

"But  some  one  must  care  for  thee.    I  love 


106  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

thee.  Thou  wilt  forget  Olafaksoah.  Thy 
hurt  will  heal." 

Annadoah  shook  her  head  piteously. 

"Do  the  gulls  that  freeze  to  death  in  winter 
fly  in  springtime?"  she  asked,  simply. 

Ootah  did  not  reply. 

"He  was  strong,"  she  murmured.  "His 
hands  bruised  me.  He  was  cruel.  He  hurt 
me.  Yet  he  gave  my  heart  joy.  My  heart  is 
dying — dying  as  the  birds  die.  I  feel  the  teeth 
of  the  wolves  in  my  heart." 

Ootah  pointed  to  the  women.  The  soft 
crooning  of  their  voices  reached  him  as  they 
resumed  the  dismal  dirge  of  their  own  woes. 

"They  hate  thee,"  he  said.  He  pointed  to 
the  constellation  of  the  Great  Bear  which  glit- 
tered faintly  in  the  sky.  "Yonder  qiligtussat 
(the  barking  dogs)  would  rend  the  gentle 
bear.  Thou  rememberest  the  old  men's  tale. 
A  woman  ran  away  from  her  family.  She  was 
false  at  heart.  The  good  mother  bear  pro- 
tected her  and  gave  her  food.  But  yearning 
for  her  husband,  she  returned  and  to  gain  his 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  107 

favor  betrayed  the  hiding  place  of  the  mother- 
bear  and  her  young.  Then  the  husband  drove 
out  with  sledges.  His  dogs  attacked  the  bear. 
But  they  all  became  stars  and  went  up  into 
the  sky.  Even  as  the  bear  was  good  to  the 
false  woman  so  hast  thou  made  clothing  for 
those  yonder,  and  now  they  would  as  the  dogs 
rend  thee.  Thou  needest  a  husband." 

"They  would  be  bitter  to  thee,"  she  argued. 

"Perchance,  but  I  would  protect  thee.  I 
love  thee." 

Annadoah  shook  her  head.  "The  teeth  of 
the  wolves  are  in  my  heart,"  she  said.  "And 
I  no  longer  care." 

"Yonder  Nalagssartoq  (he  who  waits  and 
listens)  bends  to  hear  thy  reply."  Ootah 
pointed  to  Venus,  the  brightest  of  the  stars — 
to  the  Eskimos  an  old  man  who  waits  by  a 
blow-hole  in  the  heavenly  icefloes  and  listens 
for  the  breathing  of  seals.  "Thou  wilt  come 
to  Ootah,  who  loves  thee?  Answer,  Anna- 
doah! Ootah  listens." 

He  soothed  her  little  hands.    A  wondrous 


108  THE   ETEENAL   MAIDEN 

light  burned  in  his  eyes.  Every  fibre  of  his 
being  yearned  for  her.  But  Annadoah's  hands 
were  cold,  her  eyes  were  sullenly  turned  away. 
In  her  heart  a  vague  fear  of  him,  a  resentment 
of  his  very  love,  stirred. 

"My  shadow  yearns  to  the  south,"  she  re- 
peated pathetically.  "I  shall  wait.  Perhaps 
he  will  come  as  he  said  when  the  spring  bunting 
sings."  In  her  heart  she  feared  that  he  would 
not. 

Ootah  in  utter  anguish  dropped  her  hands. 
Annadoah  sadly  turned  away.  Falling  to  his 
knees  on  the  ice,  he  covered  his  face  with  his 
arms.  The  sound  of  his  heartbroken  sobbing 
was  drowned  in  the  funereal  chant  of  the 
women  as,  in  a  long  procession,  they  passed 
near  him  on  their  way  to  the  shore. 

When  he  raised  his  head,  the  rim  of  the 
moon,  a  great  quarter-disc  of  silver,  peeped 
above  the  horizon.  A  mystical  melancholy 
light  flooded  the  gloriously  gleaming  desolate 
white  world.  The  ice  floes  glistened  as  with 
the  dust  of  diamonds.  The  ice  covered  faces 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  109 

of  the  promontories  glowed  with  the  sheen  of 
burnished  metal.  The  clouds  became  tremu- 
lous masses  of  argent  phosphorescence.  Far 
away  the  women's  chants  subsided.  One  by 
one  they  joined  the  men  in  their  grotesque 
dances  in  the  distant  igloos.  Ootah  was  left 
alone. 

He  gazed  long  upon  the  pearly  lamp  of 
heaven.  The  subtle  sorrow  of  this  world  of 
magical  moonlight  filled  his  soul.  Then  the 
hopelessness  and  tragedy  of  all  it  symbolized 
were  unfolded  to  him,  and,  extending  his  arms 
in  a  vague  wild  sympathy,  in  a  vague  wild  de- 
spair, he  moaned : 

"Desolate  and  lonely  moon!  Oh,  desolate 
and  unhappy  moon!  .  .  .  Desolate  and 
unhappy  is  the  heart  of  Ootah!" 

Far  away,  in  her  shelter,  Annadoah  heard 
the  sobbing  voice  of  Ootah.  And  nearer,  in  an 
igloo  where  the  men  beat  drums  and  danced, 
she  heard  the  voice  of  Maisanguaq  laughing 
evilly.  Of  late  Maisanguaq  had  gibed  her  with 
her  desertion;  he  was  bitter  toward  her.  But 


110  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

nothing  mattered  to  Annadoah.  She  thought 
of  the  blond  man  in  the  south,  and  the  plead- 
ing of  Ootah.  As  she  heard  his  weeping,  she 
shook  her  head  sadly.  She  beat  her  breast  and 
muttered  over  and  over  again: 

"Do  the  gulls  that  freeze  to  death  in  winter 
fly  in  springtime?" 


"What  they  heard  was,  to  them  all,  the 
Voice  of  the  Great  Unknown,  .  .  .  He 
who  made  the  world,  created  the  Eternal 
Maiden  Sukh-eh-nukh,  and  placed  all  the  stars 
in  the  skies  .  .  .  Whose  voice,  far,  far 
away,  itself  comes  as  the  faintly  remembered 
music  of  long  bygone  dreams  preceding  birth 
.  .  .  And  now,  out  of  the  blue-black  sky, 
great  globes  of  swimming  liquid  fire  floated 
constantly,  and  dispersing  into  feathery  flakes 
of  opal  light,  melted  softly  .  .  " 

OOTAH  began  work  on  an  igloo  for  An- 
nadoah.  None  of  the  tribesmen  had 
offered  to  do  this  for  her,  and,  as  only  the  men 
develop  the  architectural  skill  required  to  con- 
struct a  snow  shelter,  Annadoah,  until  Ootah's 
return,  was  forced  to  continue  to  live  in  her 
seal-skin  tent,  where  she  suffered  bitterly  from 

111 


112  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

the  cold.  His  back  aching,  scarcely  pausing 
to  rest,  Ootah  constructed  an  icy  dome  of  more 
than  usual  solidity.  This  completed,  he  went 
many  miles,  through  the  darkness,  to  the 
south,  where,  in  the  shelter  of  certain  rocks, 
he  knew  there  was  much  soft  moss.  Digging 
through  the  frozen  blanket  of  ice  he  secured 
a  quantity,  and  returning,  made  with  it  a  soft 
bed  for  Annadoah  over  a  tier  of  stones.  This 
he  covered  in  turn  with  the  soft  skin  of  cari- 
bou. Inside  the  immaculate  house  of  snow  he 
fashioned  an  interior  tent  of  heavy  skins  to 
retain  the  heat  of  the  oil  lamps.  Of  his  own 
supplies  of  blubber  and  walrus  meat,  which  he 
had  secretly  buried  early  in  the  hunting  season 
and  which  had  thus  escaped  the  rapacity  of  the 
white  men,  he  gave  more  than  half  to  Anna- 
doah. He  fixed  her  lamps  with  oil,  and  ar- 
ranged them  solicitously  in  positions  where 
they  would  give  most  heat.  He  placed  sup- 
plies in  the  house,  and  buried  the  rest  outside 
so  that  Annadoah  might  readily  reach  them. 
Meanwhile  Annadoah  sat  alone  in  her  tent, 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  113 

her  sad  face  buried  in  her  hands,  "her  shadow 
yearning  toward  the  south."  Many  of  the 
tribe,  emerging  from  their  igloos,  had  paused 
to  taunt  Ootah  at  his  labors. 

"A-ha— a-ha!"  they  laughed.  "Thinkest 
thou  that  Annadoah  will  let  thee  share  her 
igloo  when  the  snow  closes  in?"  They  laughed 
again.  Ootah  seriously  shook  his  head. 

"I  would  that  Annadoah  be  protected  from 
the  storm,"  he  said  simply. 

"A-ha — ha!  No  man  buildeth  a  house 
wherein  he  may  not  have  shelter;  no  man  lay- 
eth  a  bed  of  soft  moss  whereon  he  doth  not 
expect  to  lie.  Idiot  Ootah,  as  well  mayest 
thou  expect  the  willows  to  sprout  in  the  long 
night — Annadoah  thinketh  naught  of  thee. 
Why  seekest  thou  not  a  sensible  maiden?" 

"He  hath  given  Annadoah  half  of  his  meat 
and  fuel,"  the  women  murmured  complain- 
ingly  among  themselves. 

"He  hath  given  her  his  skins;  he  hath 
thieved  upon  himself." 

"Why  hath  he  not  taken  another  to  wife? 


114  THE   ETEENAL   MAIDEN 

Verily  men  are  few;  women  are  many.  And 
all  gaze  favorably  upon  Ootah." 

"Yea,  his  arm  is  strong." 

"There  is  courage  in  his  heart." 

"He  feareth  not  the  night." 

"He  should  press  his  face  upon  the  face  of 
one  who  is  fair;  his  wife  should  bear  children." 

When  Annadoah  passed  from  her  tent  into 
her  new  home  the  women  scolded  her  bitterly. 
The  men  goodnaturedly  jeered  Ootah.  Anna- 
doah huddled  near  Ootah  and  gazed  gratefully 
into  his  eyes.  In  the  thought  that  he  was  there 
to  protect  her  the  heart  of  Ootah  pulsed  with 
joy.  Annadoah's  heart  was  cold.  Annadoah 
sat  inside  the  new  little  house  of  snow,  the  oil 
lights  flickering  fitfully.  In  the  dancing  shad- 
ows Annadoah  saw  the  semblance  of  the  form 
of  the  blond  chief.  Joylessly  Ootah  built  his 
own  home. 

And  in  their  houses,  in  celebration  of  the 
fall  of  night,  the  natives  continued  their  gro- 
tesque dances.  Beating  membrane  drums,  and 
singing  jerky  chants,  they  danced  frenziedly, 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  115 

forcing  a  false  hilarity.  They  felt  the  over- 
whelming approach  of  the  dread  spectre  of 
famine.  In  their  dances  some  sobbed,  others 
passed  into  uncontrollable  hysteria. 

Ootah  alone  did  not  indulge  in  the  fierce 
ceremonies.  His  own  igloo  built,  day  after 
day,  night  after  night,  he  sat  alone.  His  heart 
ached  with  the  unrequited  and  eternal  desire 
of  all  the  loveless  and  lonely  things  of  the 
world.  Outside,  the  moon  increased  in  fulness 
and  soared  in  a  low  circle  about  the  sky.  The 
dogs  crouched  low  on  the  ground,  howling  dis- 
mally. 

During  the  first  days  of  the  long  night  the 
natives  held  a  series  of  dog  fights  inside  the 
snow  and  stone  houses.  Ordinarily  Ootah 
would  have  attended  these,  for  a  dog  fight  is 
of  keenest  interest  to  a  tribesman,  and  the  Es- 
kimos' most  exciting  form  of  sport. 

To  a  hunter  with  healthy  blood  in  his  veins 
the  dog  encounter  affords  the  same  thrills  as 
other  men,  in  more  southern  lands,  find  in  bull 
fights,  horse  racing,  card  playing  and  other 


116  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

games  of  chance.  Two  lovers,  both  desirous 
of  a  maiden,  may  hold  a  fight  between  their 
king  dogs,  each  hoping  that  success  may  de- 
termine the  girl's  favor.  Pieces  of  blubber, 
animal  skins,  ivory  carvings  and  less  valuable 
objects  are  often  bet  by  the  contestants  and 
the  onlookers. 

By  all  logical  assumptions,  one  might  nat- 
urally suppose  that  the  Eskimos — whose 
night  is  many  months  long — through  many 
dark  and  rigorous  ages,  would  have  developed 
into  a  taciturn  and  moody  people,  just  as  the 
denizens  of  sunny  climes  are  joyful,  efferves- 
cent and  pleasure  loving.  However,  this  is  not 
so.  Troublous  as  is  their  existence,  they  pre- 
serve until  old  age  that  playful  joy  of  life,  that 
carefree  ignoring  of  danger,  which  we  find  in 
our  children — which,  alas,  we  lose  too  soon. 
Each  day  brings  to  them  its  novel  delights ;  in 
their  monotonous  foods  they  find  a  constant 
variety  of  pleasure;  in  their  simple  games  of 
muscle-tapping,  throwing  of  carved  ivories, 
and  fighting  of  dogs  they  experience  the  ex- 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  117 

ultant  and  exuberant  fun  of  our  schoolboys. 
Constant  experience  with  jeopardous  tasks 
has  eliminated  the  human  fear  of  danger,  and 
even  death,  in  its  most  tragic  shapes,  by  long 
association  has  lost  its  terrors.  When  the  long 
night  falls,  and  an  ominous  depression  makes 
heavy  the  heart  of  the  lover  or  fills  with  anx- 
iety the  heart  of  the  father,  they  turn,  with  a 
delightful  spontaneity,  to  play. 

Now  great  interest  was  aroused  by  the  news 
that  Papik  was  to  fight  his  king  dog  with  the 
magnificent  brute  owned  by  Attalaq.  Both 
Papik  and  Attalaq  were  paying  evident  at- 
tentions to  Ahningnetty,  the  chubby  and  ever 
smiling  maiden,  who,  while  she  showed  a  cer- 
tain leaning  toward  Papik,  had  misgivings  as 
to  his  eligibility  as  a  husband  because  of  his 
long  fingers. 

Born  of  noted  fighters,  a  dog  attains  the  po- 
sition of  "king"  or  chief  dog  of  a  team  by 
whipping  all  the  dogs  in  the  team  of  his  par- 
ticular master.  When  he  has  asserted  his  su- 
premacy over  the  dogs  of  his  own  team,  he  is 


118  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

successively  set  before  the  rulers  of  other 
teams.  And  by  a  process  of  elimination  of 
those  which  lose,  the  two  final  victors  in  a  vil- 
lage are  finally  aligned  against  one  another. 

In  the  series  of  fights  held  between  the  king 
dogs  of  the  various  teams,  both  Papik's  and 
Attalaq's  had  come  off  with  final  honors.  The 
immediate  contest  between  the  two  most  dis- 
tinguished canines  in  the  village  was  an  event 
of  exciting  importance,  and  to  the  women  there 
was  a  romantic  zest  in  it,  for  all  believed  that 
victory  would  determine  Ahningnetty's  favor. 

At  the  time  of  the  event  all  who  could  do  so 
crowded  into  Attalaq's  stone  house.  In  the 
centre  of  a  tense  group  of  onlookers  the  two 
dogs  were  placed  before  each  other.  They 
were  handsome  animals,  with  long  keen  noses, 
denoting  an  aristocracy  of  canine  birth,  and 
long  shaggy  coats,  mottled  brown  and  white, 
as  soft  as  silk.  A  long  line  of  victories  lay  to 
the  credit  of  each. 

A  sharp  howl  announced  the  fight — the  two 
lithe  bodies  leaped  together — the  air  within  the 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  119 

little  circle  became  electric.  The  dogs 
snapped,  tumbled  over  each  other.  Their 
sharp  teeth  sank  into  each  other's  shanks. 
The  natives  cheered  whenever  a  favorite  se- 
cured an  advantage.  Bets  were  made.  Papik's 
eyes  gleamed  as  he  alternately  watched  his  dog 
and  the  face  of  Ahningnetty  as  she  peered  in- 
terestedly over  the  onlookers'  shoulders.  At- 
talaq's  countenance  was  grim — not  a  muscle 
moved. 

Finally  Attalaq's  dog,  with  a  chagrined 
growl,  unexpectedly  rushed  from  the  enclosure 
and  crouched  in  a  corner  of  the  igloo. 

The  natives  effusively  gathered  about  Pa- 
pik,  who  bent  over  his  dog  with  proud  affec- 
tion. In  the  excitement  Ahningnetty  quickly 
left  the  igloo,  and  standing  outside  gazed 
meditatively  at  the  stars.  They  hung  in  the 
sky  above  like  great  pendulous  jewels,  palpi- 
tant with  interior  flame — there  were  purple 
stars,  and  blue  stars,  and  orange-colored  stars ; 
some  resembled  monstrous  amethysts,  some 
emeralds  fierily  green,  some  rubies  spitting 


120  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

sparks  vindictively  red ;  others  globular  sheeny 
pearls,  creamy  of  lustre  but  shot  with  faint 
gleams  of  rose;  and  fugitively  sprinkling  the 
firmament  here  and  there  were  orbs  that  glis- 
tened like  diamonds,  wonderfully  and  purely 
white.  Saturn,  distinct  among  all  the  heavenly 
bodies,  throbbed  with  a  vari-colored  changing 
glow  like  a  bulbous  opal,  and  about  it,  with 
a  strange  shimmer,  visibly  swirled  its  iridescent 
rings. 

"Thou  standest  alone — thou  wouldst  leave 
me?"  Papik,  eager,  triumphant,  questioning, 
emerged  from  the  stone  entrance  to  the  house 
and  approached  the  girl.  The  other  natives, 
homeward  bent,  followed. 

The  girl  was  silent. 

"Methought  thou  wouldst  be  glad— 

"Thy  dog  is  strong,"  the  girl  replied. 

"Dost  thou  love  that  dotard  Attalaq?" 

"No,"  the  maid  replied.  "He  is  clumsy  as 
the  musk  ox." 

They  turned,  walking  toward  the  igloo  oc- 
cupied by  Ahningnetty  and  her  aged  father. 


THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN  121 

"Wilt  thou  not  be  Papik's  wife?"  Papik 
pleaded.  "My  shelter  is  cold — little  meat  have 
I.  The  white  men  robbed  the  tribe.  But  per- 
chance the  bears  come — then  I  shall  kill  them; 
valiant  is  my  dog."  He  patted  the  animal's 
shaggy  head. 

"But  thy  fingers,  Papik— Papik!  No- 
no!" 

"But  Papik  loves  thee,"  he  protested;  "his 
skin  flushes  with  the  thought  of  thee." 

"That  thou  didst  also  say  to  Annadoah, 
whom  thou  didst  seek  before  me." 

Papik  was  silent;  it  was  true  that  Ahning- 
netty  was  only  a  second  choice. 

At  that  moment  an  ominous  noise  was  heard 
on  the  sea.  The  tide,  in  moving,  caused  the 
massive  floe-ice  to  grate  against  that  adhering 
to  the  shore.  To  the  simple  natives,  the  noise 
indicated  something  more  sinister. 

"Hearest  that?"  Ahningnetty  asked. 

"Yea,"  replied  Papik,  "Qulutcligssuaq,  the 
monster  who  lives  in  the  sea,  cometh  with  his 
hammers." 


122  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

"He  cometh  to  steal  the  children.  In  win- 
ter he  is  very  hungry." 

"They  say  he  frightens  people  to  death  when 
a  baby  which  is  fatherless  screams." 

"And  after  he  beats  his  ladles,  the  babies 
often  die." 

Again  the  grating  noise  shuddered  along 
the  shore,  and  Ahningnetty,  frightened,  fled 
to  her  house.  Papik,  pursuing  his  way,  ac- 
costed Ootah. 

As  they  were  speaking  they  saw  Otaq  and 
his  wife  emerge  from  their  house.  Between 
them  they  carried  a  small  stark  body.  The 
woman  was  weeping  piteously.  It  was  their 
child,  which  a  brief  while  before  had  died.  The 
sea  monster  had  again  claimed  its  human  toll. 

Papik  and  Ootah  disappeared — Papik  to 
his  shelter,  Ootah  to  Annadoah's  igloo.  The 
parents,  left  alone,  dug  up  stones  and  ice  and 
buried  the  child.  Then  beneath  the  stars  they 
stood  in  silent  grief.  Other  natives,  emerging 
from  their  houses  and  seeing  them,  understood 
and1  disappeared,  for  while  relatives  weep  over 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  128 

their  dead  none  dare  disturb  their  mourning. 
For  five  days,  in  commemoration  of  the  death, 
the  parents  would  visit  the  grave  of  their  child. 
During  this  time  no  native  dare  cross  the  path 
leading  from  their  igloo  to  the  silent  resting 
place,  and  while  they  stood  heneath  the  stars 
all  alien  to  their  sorrow  must  remain  within 
their  houses.  Only  the  Great  Spirit,  who  lives 
beyond  the  golden  veils  of  the  boreal  lights, 
may  hear  the  sobbing  of  a  stricken  human 
creature  over  the  thing  of  which  it  has  been 
bereft. 

In  the  course  of  ten  sleeps — as  days  are 
called — the  first  moon  of  the  long  night  sank 
below  the  horizon  and  the  colorful  stars  fierily 
glittered  over  a  world  of  black  silence.  The 
cold  increased  to  an  intolerable  bitterness. 
Ootah,  venturing  from  his  igloo  to  dig  up  wal- 
rus meat,  found  the  earth  frozen  so  solid  that 
it  split  his  steel  axe. 

It  was  not  long  before  many  white  mounds 
appeared  beneath  the  liquid  stars.  The  old 
and  the  very  young,  unable  to  endure  the  rig- 


124  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

orous  cold  and  dearth  of  food,  passed  into  the 
mysterious  unknown  of  which  the  long  dark 
of  earth  is  only  the  portal.  After  the  pass- 
ing of  the  first  moon  the  storms  came ;  the  sky 
blackened;  the  winds  voiced  the  desolate  woe 
of  millions  of  aerial  creatures.  Terrific  snow 
storms  kept  the  tribe  within  their  shelters  for 
days.  Often  the  winds  tore  away  the  mem- 
brane windows  of  their  snow  houses,  and  blasts 
of  frigid  cold  dissipated  the  precious  warmth 
within.  In  the  lee  of  circular  walls  of  ice, 
right  at  the  immediate  entrance  of  the  houses, 
the  natives  kept  their  dogs.  Inside  they  had 
only  room  for  the  mother  dogs,  which  at  this 
period  brought  into  being  litters  of  beautiful 
little  puppies  with  which  the  Eskimo  children 
played.  Outside,  scores  of  splendid  animals, 
which  could  not  be  sheltered,  were  frozen  to 
death  in  great  drifts.  These,  during  the  fol- 
lowing days,  were  dug  out  and  used  as  food 
both  for  men  and  the  living  animals. 

During    a    quiet    period    between    storms, 
Ootah,  venturing  from  his  shelter,  heard  a 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  125 

shuffling  noise  near  his  igloo.  In  the  northern 
sky  a  creamy  light  palpitated,  and  in  one  of 
the  quick  flares  he  saw  a  bear  nosing  about  the 
village.  He  called  his  dogs  and  they  soon  sur- 
rounded the  animal.  Fortunately  the  incan- 
descent light  of  the  aurora  increased — now  and 
then  a  ribbon  of  light,  palpitant  with  every 
color  of  the  rainbow,  was  flung  across  the  sky. 
Ootah  lifted  his  harpoon  lance — the  sky  was 
momentarily  flooded  with  light — he  struck. 
In  the  next  flare  he  saw  the  bear  lying  on  the 
ice — his  lance  had  pierced  the  brute's  heart. 
Attracted  by  the  barking  of  Ootah's  dogs,  sev- 
eral tribesmen  soon  joined  him  in  dressing  the 
animal.  During  their  task,  one  suddenly  beck- 
oned silence,  and  whispered  softly: 

"The  Voice  ...  the  Voice  .  .  ." 
And  they  paused. 

A  weird  whistling  sound  sang  eerily  through 
the  skies.  The  air,  electrified,  seemed  to  snap 
and  crackle.  It  was  the  voice  that  comes  with 
the  aurora. 

The  knives  fell  from  the  natives'  hands. 


126  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

The  howling  of  the  hungry  dogs  was  stilled. 
In  hushed  awe,  in  reverence,  with  vague  won- 
dering, they  listened.  Ootah  was  on  his  knees. 
An  inspired  light  transfigured  his  face.  His 
pulses  thrilled.  For  what  they  heard  was,  to 
them  all,  the  Voice  of  the  Great  Unknown,  He 
whose  power  is  greater  than  that  of  Perdlugs- 
suaq,  He  who  made  the  world,  created  the 
Eternal  Maiden  Sukh-eh-nukh,  and  placed  all 
the  stars  in  the  skies,  who,  never  coming  Him- 
self earthward,  instead  sends  in  the  aurora 
His  spirits  with  messages  of  hope  and  encour- 
agement to  men,  and  Whose  Voice  sometimes, 
far,  far  away,  itself  comes  as  the  faintly  re- 
membered music  of  long  by-gone  dreams  pre- 
ceding birth  .  .  .  Yea,  it  was  the  Voice 
.  .  .  the  Voice  .  .  . 

And  now,  out  of  the  black-blue  sky,  as  if 
released  from  invisible  hands,  great  globes  of 
swimming  liquid  fire  floated  constantly,  and 
dispersing  into  millions  of  feathery  flakes  of 
opal  light,  melted  softly  .  .  .  Along  the 
lower  heavens  there  was  a  fugitive  flickering 


THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN  127 

of  a  rich  creamy  light,  as  of  the  reflection  of 
celestial  fires  far  beyond  the  horizon. 

Speechless,  Ootah  viewed  the  flameous  won- 
der, and,  although  he  knew  no  prayer,  he  felt 
in  his  soul  an  instinctive  love,  a  profound  awe 
.  .  .  In  the  silent  sanctity  of  that  auroral- 
shot  and  frigidly  glorious  region  he  seemed  to 
feel  the  pulsing  of  an  Unseen  Presence — a 
presence  of  which  he  was  a  part,  of  which,  with 
a  glow,  he  felt  the  soul  of  her  he  loved  was  a 
part,  to  which  all  nature,  everything  that  lives 
and  hreathes,  was  vitally  linked  .  .  .  He 
felt  the  drawing  urge,  the  thrilling  tingling 
impetus,  as  it  were,  of  the  terrific  currents  of 
vital  spirit  force  that  sweep  vastly  through 
the  universe,  keeping  the  earth  and  all  the 
planets  in  their  orbits  .  .  .  He  felt,  what 
possibly  the  primitive  and  pure  of  heart  feel 
most  keenly  .  .  .  the  presence  of  the 
Great  Unknown,  He  who  is  the  fountain 
source  of  love,  and  whose  hands  on  the  sable 
parchment  of  the  northern  skies  perchance 
write,  in  irid  traceries  of  fire,  mystic  messages 


128  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

of  hope  which  none,  of  all  humanity,  during  all 
the  centuries,  has  ever  learned  entirely  to 
understand. 

Not  until  the  wonder  lights  were  fading  did 
the  tribesmen  take  up  the  precious  bear  meat, 
and  according  to  Ootah's  instructions  divide 
portions  among  the  community.  His  arm  full 
of  meat,  Ootah  joyously  entered  Annadoah's 
igloo. 

Annadoah,  sad  and  lonely,  sat  by  her  lamp. 
Her  igloo  was  like  that  of  all  the  others.  In- 
side, so  as  to  retain  the  heat  and  carry  off  the 
water  which  dripped  from  the  melting  dome 
of  snow,  there  wras  an  interior  tent  of  seal 
skin.  In  a  great  pan  of  soapstone  was  a  line 
of  moss,  which  absorbed  the  walrus  fat,  and 
served  as  a  wick  for  the  lamp.  This  emitted 
a  line  of  thin,  reddish  blue  flame.  Over  the 
light,  and  supported  by  a  framework,  was  a 
large  soapstone  pot  in  which  bits  of  walrus 
meat  were  simmering.  By  the  side  of  the  pot 
a  large  piece  of  walrus  blubber  hung  over  a 
rod.  In  the  heat  of  the  lamp  this  slowly  ex- 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  129 

uded  a  thick  oil  which,  falling  into  the  pan  be- 
low and  saturating  the  moss  wick,  gave  a  con- 
stant and  steady  supply  of  fuel. 

Like  the  other  women,  Annadoah  sat  by 
her  lamp  day  after  day.  When  she  could  en- 
dure hunger  no  longer  she  would  eat  raven- 
ously of  the  meagre  food  in  the  pot.  Regular 
meals  are  unknown  in  the  arctic — a  native  ab- 
stains from  food  as  long  as  he  can  in  days  of 
famine,  but  when  he  eats  he  eats  unstintedly. 

As  Ootah  entered  the  low  enclosure  Anna- 
doah's  eyes  lighted. 

Ootah  told  her  of  the  bear  encounter,  and, 
with  the  joy  of  children,  they  placed  bits  of 
the  meat  in  the  pot  and  sat  by,  delightedly  in- 
haling the  odor  as  it  cooked. 

Several  days  later,  while  they  were  eating 
the  last  remainder  of  the  meat,  both  heard  an 
uproar  outside.  They  crept  from  the  igloo 
and  discovered  most  of  the  village  assembled 
without. 

"Attalaq  hath  carried  off  Ahningnetty," 
one  told  them. 


130  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

"He  broke  into  her  father's  house  and  seized 
her  with  violence!" 

Not  far  away  they  heard  Ahningnetty's 
screams. 

"Attalaq  is  strong,"  said  one. 

"Yea,  as  a  boy  did  he  not  kill  his  brother?" 
All  remembered  the  brutal  encounter  of  the 
two  brothers  years  before,  when,  throwing  him 
to  the  ground,  Attalaq  jumped  on  his  brother's 
body  and  striking  his  head  with  stones  beat 
him  to  death.  Attalaq  was  a  type  of  the  older 
warriors;  unlike  his  more  gentle  tribesmen  he 
possessed  the  atavistic  savagery  of  his  fore- 
bears of  centuries  ago  when  it  was  customary 
to  abduct  brides. 

An  excited  crowd  gathered  outside  of  At- 
talaq's  house.  Soon  Attalaq  himself  appeared. 
He  was  exultant. 

"Ha!  Ha!"  he  laughed.  "Methinks  that  is 
the  way  to  treat  a  woman!"  Then  with  swol- 
len-up  gusto  he  told  them  all  about  it.  Tiring 
of  being  alone  he  determined  to  carry  off 
Ahningnetty.  "A  woman's  mind  is  as  the 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  131 

wind — it  constantly  changeth,"  he  said. 
"Women  should  be  driven  as  the  dogs."  Ah- 
ningnetty,  still  weeping,  still  protesting,  came 
to  the  door.  Attalaq  turned  fiercely  upon  her 
and  struck  her  in  the  face.  Then  he  laughed 
again.  The  girl  screamed. 

"Well,"  he  said,  turning  to  her.  "I  carried 
thee  here — if  thou  wouldst  return  thou  canst 
walk  back.  Eh?"  The  girl  cowered  away,  but 
on  her  face  there  was  the  semblance  of  a 
pleased  expression.  The  other  women  re- 
garded her  with  a  tinge  of  envy. 

'Tis  not  often  in  these  days  a  lover  careth 
sufficiently  to  carry  a  maid  away,"  said  an  aged 
crone. 

"In  the  days  of  old  there  were  men  like  At- 
talaq," said  a  younger  woman,  admiringly. 

"Where  is  Papik?"  one  asked.  He  was  not 
to  be  seen. 

"Dost  thou  not  wish  to  return  to  thy 
father?"  Annadoah  asked  Ahningnetty,  ap- 
proaching her. 

The  girl  shook  her  head.    Much  as  she  had 


132  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

protested,  she  was  unquestionably  pleased  by 
the  forcible  abduction. 

One  of  the  gossips,  desiring  to  impart  the 
unpleasant  news  to  Papik,  had  gone  to  his 
house. 

"Papik  sits  alone,"  she  called,  on  her  return. 
"And  when  I  told  him  Ahningnetty  hath  been 
carried  away  by  Attalaq,  he  replied,  (  'Tis 
well !  'Tis  well !'  And  then  he  showed  me  his 
hands — they  were  frozen — frozen!  Verily,  he 
would  now  be  a  sorry  husband  to  provide  for 
a  wife." 

"Papik's  fingers  frozen!"  took  up  the  others. 
"Unhappy  Papik." 

"He  sobs  and  weeps — he  sobs  and  weeps," 
said  the  old  woman.  "He  saith  the  dreaded 
misfortune  hath  come,  and  the  days  of  his  skill 
on  the  hunt  are  over!" 

"Long  fingers,  short  hunt ;  long  nose — short 
life,"  remarked  Maisanguaq,  sententiously. 

Attalaq,  happy  in  his  conquest,  was  broad 
enough  to  be  generous.  He  declared  that  Pa- 
pik should  never  want  as  long  as  he  could  shoot 


THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN  133 

the  arrow.  Generous-hearted,  many  of  the 
others  joined  in  and  bits  of  blubber  were  soon 
offered  the  lonely  Papik,  as  he  sat,  nursing  his 
frozen  members,  in  his  house.  The  mishap 
was  tragic,  for,  his  hands  injured,  he  had  lost 
not  only  his  skill  in  the  hunt  but  his  ability  to 
protect  himself  in  case  of  accidents.  And 
from  the  experience  of  ages  all  knew  that, 
sooner  or  later,  he  was  doomed  to  a  compara- 
tively early  death. 

During  the  first  period  of  the  night,  and 
after  Ootah's  first  capture,  several  prowling 
bears  were  shot.  The  howl  of  occasional 
wolves  was  heard  in  the  mountains;  then  all 
the  bears  disappeared,  the  hunger  of  the 
wolves  was  stilled. 

When  the  third  moon  rose  not  a  thing 
stirred  outside  the  igloos.  A  glacial  silence 
gripped  the  northern  world.  In  their  shelters 
the  natives  clustered  together,  warming  one 
another  with  their  breathing  and  the  heat  of 
their  bodies.  They  lacked  the  courage  even  to 
speak. 


134  THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN 

Day  by  day  their  supply  of  food  had  run 
low.  Day  by  day  they  decreased  their  por- 
tions; their  cheeks  sunk,  hunger  burned  in 
their  eyes.  To  save  the  precious  fuel  they 
burned  only  one  lamp  in  their  houses;  they 
were  unable  to  sleep  because  of  the  intense 
cold.  Finally  their  food  gave  out.  From  his 
store  Ootah  silently  doled  out  allotments  until 
starvation  confronted  him.  One  by  one  the 
dogs  were  eaten.  And  this  caused  a  dull  ache, 
for  the  men  loved  their  dogs  only  a  little  less 
than  they  did  their  wives  and  children.  The 
quaking  fear  of  the  long  hours  slowly  gave 
way  to  a  dull  lethargy.  In  their  igloos,  where 
single  lamps  smoked,  they  sat,  and  to  keep  up 
their  circulation  and  to  prevent  themselves 
from  falling  into  a  coma,  they  rocked  their 
bodies  like  things  only  half  alive. 

The  black  days  and  black  nights  slowly, 
tediously,  achingly  passed.  One  day  was  like 
another — one  night  seemed  to  mark  no  prog- 
ress of  time.  Only  the  children,  to  whom 
parents  gave  the  last  bits  of  food,  showed  some 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  135 

animation.  They  played  listlessly  with  one 
another.  For  toys  they  had  crude  carvings  of 
soapstone — tiny  soapstone  lamps  and  pots 
with  which  they  made  pitiful  mimicry  of  cook- 
ing. The  little  girls  played  with  crude  dolls 
just  as  do  little  girls  in  more  southern  lands — 
but  they  were  grotesque  effigies,  made  of  skin 
roughly  sewn  together.  The  boys  found  brief 
zest  in  a  game  which  was  played  by  sticking 
ivory  points  in  a  piece  of  bone,  hanging  from 
the  roof  of  the  igloo,  and  which  was  perforated 
with  holes.  Finally,  as  the  night  wore  on,  the 
children  lost  interest  in  their  games,  and  with 
aching  stomachs,  lay  silent  by  the  fires.  Star- 
vation steadily  claimed  its  toll.  Death,  slowly, 
surely,  laid  its  grim  and  terrible  hands  upon 
that  pitiful  fringe  of  earth's  humanity  on  the 
desolate  star-litten  roof  of  the  world.  One  by 
one  a  stark  body  would  be  carried  from  an 
igloo  into  the  black,  bitter  cold  silence  without 
and  buried  under  blocks  of  snow.  And  above, 
intense  and  incandescent,  the  Pole  Star — that 
unerring  time  mark  of  God's  inevitable  and 


136  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

unerring    laws — burned    like    an    all-seeing, 
sentient  and  pitiless  eye  of  fire  in  the  heavens. 

Annadoah  lay  upon  her  couch  of  furs.  Her 
face  was  thin,  and  white  as  the  snows  without. 
The  flame  in  her  stone  lamp  was  about  to 
flicker  into  extinction. 

Ootah,  entering  the  igloo,  sprang  quickly  to 
her  side.  Her  breath  came  very  faintly.  He 
seized  her  hands.  He  breathed  on  her  face. 
He  opened  her  ahttee  and  rubbed  her  little 
breasts.  He  felt  something  very  strange,  and 
wonderful,  stirring  within  him.  And  with  it  a 
ghastly  fear  that  the  thing  he  loved  was  dying. 

Into  the  lamp  he  placed  the  last  meagre  bits 
of  remaining  blubber.  Then  he  again  set  to 
chafing  the  tender  little  hands.  Cold  and 
hunger  had  wrought  havoc  upon  Annadoah. 
Ootah's  heart  ached. 

Finally  her  eyelids  stirred.  Her  lips  parted. 
A  smile  brightened  her  face.  Ootah  leaned 
forward,  breathlessly.  Her  lips  framed  an  iu-» 
audible  word: 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  137 

"Olafaksoah  .  .  .  Olafaksoah  .  .  ." 
She  opened  her  eyes.  The  smile  faded. 
"Thou  .  .  .?"  she  said. 

"Yea,  Annadoah,  I  have  brought  thee 
food,"  Ootah  said.  It  was  his  last. 

"I  hunger,"  she  breathed.  "It  is  very  cold 
.  .  .  I  was  in  the  south  .  .  .  where 
the  sun  is  warm  ...  it  is  very  cold 
here." 

Eagerly  he  pressed  her  hands.  She  drifted 
again  into  a  stupor  and  for  a  long  while  was 
silent.  Ootah's  warm  panting  breath  finally 
brought  blood  to  her  cheeks. 

"Thou  art  so  big  .  .  .  and  strong 
.  .  ."  she  smiled  again.  "Thy  arms  hurt 
me  ...  as  the  embrace  of  nannook  (the 
bear).  .  .  ."  Her  smile  deepened  .  .  . 
her  breath  came  more  quickly.  "Oh,  oh,  it  is 
pleasant  .  .  .  here  ...  in  ...  the 
south." 

"Annadoah !"  Ootah's  wail  of  hurt  recalled 
her. 

Her  eyes  sought  the  igloo  wonderingly. 


138  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

"Thou?"  she  repeated,  dully.  "Yea,  it  is 
cold  here.  I  am  hungry  .  .  .  Are  there 
not  ahmingmah  in  the  mountains,  Ootah? 
Didst  thou  not  tell  me  there  were  ahmingmah 
in  the  mountains  .  .  .  why  do  not  the 
men  of  the  tribe  seek  the  musk  oxen  in  the 
mountains?" 

With  a  sudden  start  Ootah  remembered 
having  told  Annadoah  of  the  herd  he  had 
found  in  the  inland  valley — it  was  strange,  he 
thought,  he  had  not  remembered  the  herd  be- 
fore. And  it  was  stranger  still  that  now  she 
should  remind  him.  But  the  improbability  of 
ever  reaching  the  game,  the  obvious  impossi- 
bility of  such  a  journey  at  this  time  of  winter, 
had  prevented  any  such  suggestion. 

"Many  musk  oxen  are  there  in  the  moun- 
tains," he  said,  soothing  her  hands.  She  drew 
them  away.  "And  thou  art  hungry  .  .  ." 

"I  am  hungry,"  she  replied,  faintly. 

After  he  had  given  her  the  last  bit  of  meat 
he  left  her  igloo.  Above  him  the  stars  burned, 
the  air  was  clear  and  still.  Not  a  thing 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  139 

moved,  not  a  sound  was  heard — the  earth  was 
gripped  in  that  unrelenting  spell  of  wintry 
silence.  Above  the  imprisoned  sea  the  Janu- 
ary moon  was  rising  and  for  ten  sleeps — ten 
twenty-four  hour  days — it  would  circle  about 
the  horizon  of  the  entire  sky.  Already  the  sky 
above  the  sea  was  bright  as  a  frosted  globe  of 
glass,  and  pearly  fingers  of  light  were  stealing 
upward  over  the  interior  mountains. 

"She  is  hungry,"  Ootah  repeated  over  and 
over  again.  "And  the  tribe  starves  .  .  . 
and  there  may  be  dhmingmdh  in  the  moun- 
tains." Behind  him  they  loomed,  gigantic  and 
precipitous.  That  such  a  journey  meant  al- 
most certain  death  he  knew;  but  that  did  not 
deter  him  in  the  resolve  to  essay  a  feat  no  na- 
tive had  ever  dared  in  many  hundreds  of  years. 

The  face  of  Sipsu,  the  angakoq,  as  I  have 
said,  resembled  dried  and  wrinkled  leather. 
He  had  been  an  old  man  when  the  eldest  of 
the  tribe  were  children.  He  had  seen  hard 
times,  he  had  suffered  from  starvation  during 


140  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

many  winters;  yet  never  even  in  his  experi- 
ence had  the  lashes  of  ookiah  struck  so  blast- 
ingly  upon  the  tribe.  Yea,  they  had  even  lost 
their  fear  of  the  tornarssuit  and  no  longer 
brought  propitiatory  offerings  of  blubber  to 
him.  Yet  being  wise  with  age,  early  in  the 
summer  he  had  buried  sufficient  supplies  be- 
neath the  floor  of  his  house  to  keep  him  from 
starving.  He  scowled  maliciously  as  he  heard 
someone  creeping  through  the  underground 
entrance  of  his  igloo.  Presently  the  cadaver- 
ous face  of  Maisanguaq  appeared. 

The  interior  was  heavy  with  the  stench  of 
oil.  The  room  hung  with  soot  from  the  lamp. 
A  thin  spiral  thread  of  black  smoke  rose  from 
the  taper.  In  the  dim  light  the  leering  face  of 
Sipsu  appeared  like  the  face  of  the  great 
demon  himself.  His  small  half-closed  eyes 
blazed  through  their  slits. 

"The  spirits  are  wrathful.  The  tribe  is  for- 
getful. What  wilt  thou  have?" 

Maisanguaq,  with  unconcealed  hesitation, 
placed  a  bit  of  blubber  before  the  magician. 


THE  ETEBNAL  MAIDEN  141 

"The  last  I  have,"  he  mumbled.  Sipsu  seized 
it  avidly. 

"Ootah  goeth  to  the  mountains,"  Maisan- 
guaq  said,  panting  for  breath. 

The  old  man  sneered  bitterly: 

"He  cannot  brave  the  spirits.  No  man  can 
live  in  the  mountains.  The  breath  of  the 
spirits  is  death." 

"Yea,  he  goeth.  He  says  that  he  knows 
where  the  ahmingmah  abound.  The  air  is  still ; 
the  moon  rises  for  ten  sleeps.  By  then,  so  he 
saith,  he  can  return  with  meat." 

"No  man  hath  ever  ventured  there.  The 
shadow  of  Perdlugssuaq  is  very  dark." 

"Yea,  may  he  smite  Ootah!"  exclaimed 
Maisanguaq. 

Sipsu  laughed  harshly. 

"Couldst  thou  cause  the  hill  spirits  to 
strike?"  Maisanguaq  asked  eagerly. 

Sipsu  faced  Maisanguaq  fiercely. 

"In  my  youth  I  went  unto  the  mountains 
and  I  heard  the  hill  spirits  sing.  Thereupon 
I  became  a  great  magician.  They  spoke  to 


142  THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN 

me ;  I  was  silent ;  thereafter,  when  I  called  they 
answered.  What  wouldst  thou?" 

Maisanguaq  indicated  the  blubber. 

"I  would  thou  call  them  now;  that  they  re- 
lease the  glaciers,  that  Ootah  may  be  carried  to 
his  death.  I  hate  Ootah,  I  would  that  he  die." 
He  shook  his  fist. 

Sipsu's  body  quivered  from  head  to  foot. 

"Ootah  hath  never  consulted  my  familiar 
spirits,"  he  rejoined  bitterly.  "He  despiseth 
them." 

Rising  from  his  sitting  posture  Sipsu  seized 
his  drum  and  began  moving  his  body.  He 
groaned  with  extreme  pain.  By  degrees  his 
dance  increased.  He  improvised  a  monoto- 
nous spirit  song.  His  face  grimaced  demoni- 
acally. As  his  conjuration  approached  the 
climax,  his  voice  rose  to  a  series  of  shrieks. 
He  shuddered  violently;  he  seemed  to  suffer 
agonies  in  his  limbs.  Finally  he  fell  to  the 
floor  in  a  writhing  paroxysm. 

ffPst!"    Maisanguaq's  eyes  lighted. 

Outside   he   heard    the    sharp   barking   of 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  143 

dogs.  "Huk!  Huk!"  Ootah's  voice  called. 
Others  joined  in  the  clamor.  The  entire  tribe 
seemed  to  wake  as  from  a  sleep  of  the  dead. 

"He  starts  for  the  mountains,"  said  Mais- 
anguaq.  "Thinkest  thou  the  spirits  will 
strike?" 

Sipsu  opened  his  eyes — and  glared  wildly 
at  Maisanguaq. 

"Speak,"  Maisanguaq  demanded.  "Hast 
thou  not  the  power?" 

"Did  I  not  once  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea 
to  Nerrvik,  she  who  rules  over  the  sea  crea- 
tures? Hath  she  not  only  one  hand,  and  is 
she  not  powerless  to  plait  her  hair?  Doth  she 
not  obey  me?  For  did  I  not  plait  her  hair? 
Did  I  not  carry  wood  for  weapons  to  the 
spirits  of  the  mountains?  And  have  they  not 
answered  for  nigh  a  thousand  moons?" 

"Yet  there  is  doubt  in  thy  voice,  Sipsu!" 

"Yea,  to  be  truthful  with  thee,  Maisanguaq, 
there  is  dispute  among  the  spirits.  I  cannot 
determine  what  they  say."  He  bent  his  head 
as  if  listening.  Then  he  asked : 


144  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

"Doth  Ootah  not  go  that  Annadoah  may 
have  food?" 

Maisanguaq  nodded  assent. 

"And  the  tribe?" 

Maisanguaq  again  nodded. 

As  though  he  suddenly  heard  some  terrify- 
ing converse  among  his  familiars  the  necro- 
mancer's face  blanched.  He  struggled  to  his 
feet. 

"Take  thy  food,"  he  flung  the  blubber  to 
Maisanguaq.  "I  dare  not  take  thy  gift.  I 
am  afraid." 

Maisanguaq  sprang  at  the  old  man.  "Re- 
voke not  thy  curse,"  he  breathed,  his  fingers 
sinking  into  the  angakoq's  throat.  "Will  the 
hill  spirits  strike?" 

"Yea,"  the  old  man  gasped,  "but  they 
say-  -" 

Maisanguaq's  fingers  loosened.  "What?" 
he  demanded. 

"That  there  is  ...  some  other  power 
.  .  .  which  is  very  strange — which " 

"Yea,  yea " 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  145 

"Protecteth  Ootah  ...  It  concerneth 
.  .  .  Annadoah.  I  do  not  wish  thy  gift. 
I  fear  the  spirits.  The  magic  of  Ootah — what 
it  is  ...  I  cannot  tell  thee  .  .  . 
But  the  spirits  say  ...  it  ...  con- 
cerneth .  .  .  Annadoah.  And  against  it 
none  of  the  tornarssuit  can  prevail."  Maisan- 
guaq  threw  the  old  man  fiercely  to  the  floor 
and,  disgusted,  left  the  igloo. 

* 

Outside,  the  entire  tribe,  with  the  exception 
of  those  dying  of  hunger,  had  gathered  in 
groups.  Ootah  lifted  his  whip.  His  team  of 
eight  lean  dogs  howled. 

"Tugto!  Tugto!"  he  called.  The  dogs 
leaped  into  the  air — his  sled  shot  forward. 
Ootah  strode  forward. 

In  his  desperate  adventure  Ootah  was 
joined  by  one  of  the  younger  members  of  the 
tribe,  Koolotah  by  name,  a  lad  barely  eighteen 
years  of  age.  All  the  others  had  hung  back. 
Koolotah's  mother  was  dying;  a  desperate  de- 
sire to  save  her  stirred  in  his  heart  as  he  lifted 


146  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

his  whip  in  the  signal  to  start.     The  tribe 
cheered. 

"Huk!  Huk!"  he  shouted,  and  his  lean  dogs 
followed  Ootah's  team. 

" Au-oo-au-oo!"  called  the  natives. 

"Auoo-auoo!"  the  voices  of  Ootah  and 
Koolotah  returned. 

Over  the  snow-covered  stretch  of  level 
shoreland  the  moon  poured  a  flood  of  silver 
incandescence.  In  this  magical  light  the  forms 
of  Ootah  and  his  companion  were  magnified 
into  the  likeness  of  those  of  the  giants  that 
the  old  men  said  once  lived  in  the  highlands. 
Their  dogs  were  distended  into  creatures  of 
the  size  of  musk  oxen.  Their  whips  exploded 
as  they  dashed  past  the  straggling  line  of  snow 
and  stone  houses ;  the  snow  crisply  cracked  and 
splintered  under  their  feet. 

Then  the  village  disappeared  behind  them. 
The  voices  of  their  tribesmen  trailed  shudder- 
ingly  into  silence. 

i 

The  assembled  tribe  watched  the  teams  di- 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  147 

minishing  in  the  distance.  Presently  someone 
whispered  a  terrible  thing. 

"Sipsu  hath  cursed  Ootah." 

A  low  ominous  murmur  passed  from  lip  to 
lip  among  the  gathered  men  and  women.  In 
the  distance  a  black  speck  in  the  moonlight 
marked  the  departing  hunters. 

"Yea,  he  hath  called  upon  the  spirit  of  the 
mountains  to  destroy  Ootah." 

A  low  groan  followed  this. 

"Methinks  he  hath  prophesied  too  many 
deaths,"  said  Arnaluk. 

"He  hath  declared  that  Koolotah's  mother 
will  die." 

"And  Koolotah — did  he  not  say  two  moons 
ago  that  Koolotah  would  depart  on  a  long 
journey  from  which  he  should  never  return?" 

"And  the  wife  of  Kyutah — did  she  not  per- 
ish after  his  evil  prophesy?  And  Piuaitsoq — 
did  not  the  spirit  of  the  skin  tents  strike  him 
when  he  lay  asleep?  And  did  not  yon  evil 
wretch  tell  of  it  long  before  ?" 

A  dozen  voices  angrily  rose  in  assent. 


148  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

"Verily  he  hath  found  hatred  in  his  heart  for 
Ootah.  For  Ootah  hath  had  no  need  of  his 
powers.  Did  not  Ootah's  mother  sew  into  his 
cap  the  skin  from  the  roof  of  a  bear's  mouth? 
And  hath  he  not  become  as  strong  as  the  bear? 
Did  not  his  father  place  in  his  ahttee  the  feet 
of  a  hawk — and  have  not  his  own  feet  the 
swiftness  of  the  wings  of  a  bird?  And  doth 
not  Sipsu  hate  him  for  his  strength?  Yea,  as 
he  hateth  all  who  are  young,  who  are  brave, 
and  who  find  joy  in  their  shadow." 

Their  voices  rose  threateningly.  Maisan- 
guaq,  chagrined  and  bitter  at  the  old  man, 
leered  among  the  crowd. 

"Hath  he  not  lived  too  long,"  he  whispered 
softly.  And  the  others  suddenly  shouted : 

"Let  Sipsu  die!" 

In  a  wild  rush  they  bore  down  upon  the 
angdkoq's  igloo.  Screaming  with  rage  they 
kicked  in  the  sides.  The  icy  dome  shattered 
about  the  startled  old  man.  They  leaped  upon 
him  as  hungry  dogs  upon  a  dying  bear.  A 
dozen  hands  ferociously  gripped  his  throat. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  149 

They  moved  to  and  fro  in  a  mad  struggle  over 
the  uneven  ice.  They  seized  hold  of  one  an- 
other in  the  blood-thirsty  desire  to  lay  their 
hands  upon  the  old  man.  He  made  no  strug- 
gle. Finally  all  drew  away.  Amid  the  wreck 
of  his  igloo  Sipsu  lay,  motionless,  his  face 
sneering  evilly  in  the  moonlight.  His  dead 
lips  seemed  to  frame  a  curse. 

They  secured  a  rope  of  leather  lashings  .and 
placed  a  noose  ahout  the  old  man's  neck.  Then 
they  dragged  his  body  from  the  wrecked  igloo. 
Weak  from  lack  of  food,  they  still  forced 
themselves  to  dig  up  the  frozen  snow  at  a  spot 
where  they  knew  there  were  stones,  for  accord- 
ing to  their  belief  they  had  to  bury  the  old 
man — otherwise,  his  spirit  would  haunt  them, 
i  To  this  spot  they  brought  the  rotted  skins  of 
his  bed,  and  on  them  placed  the  body,  fearful 
lest  they  touch  it.  By  the  body  they  placed 
the  old  man's  lamp,  stone  dishes,  membrane- 
drum  and  instruments  of  incantation.  Over 
the  corpse  they  piled  the  ice  encrusted  stones, 
and  over  these  in  turn  weighty  masses  of 


150  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

frozen  snow.  Then  they  turned  in  silence  and 
entered  their  respective  shelters.  Thence- 
forth, until  a  child  should  be  born  to  whom  it 
could  be  given,  the  name  of  Sipsu  might  not 
pass  their  lips. 


VI 

"As  he  looked  upon  the  descending  wraiths, 
"Koolotah  saw  they  had  the  spirit-semblance 
of  gleaming  faces,  and  that  their  eyes  burned, 
through  the  enveloping  cloud-veils,  like  fire 
.  .  .  'The  dead — the  dead  .  .  .'he  said, 
'we  have  come  into  a  land  of  the  dead'  .  .  . 

"Then  the  glacial  mountainside  to  which  he 
clung  trembled  .  .  .  the  silver-swimming 
world  of  white  dust-driven  fire  became  sud- 
denly black — and  the  earth  seemed  removed 
from  under  him  .  .  " 

LEAVING  the  low-lying  shore,  Ootah's 
path  led  up  through  a  narrow  gorge 
between  two  great  cliffs.  Since  he  had  re- 
turned from  the  mountains  the  path  had  been 
covered  by  many  successive  falls  of  snow.  At 
places  the  path  sloped  abruptly  downward 
at  a  terrible  angle,  and  the  ice  cracked  and  slid 

151 


152  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

beneath  the  hardy  hunters'  feet.  With  the 
agility  of  cats,  the  dogs  fastened  their  claws 
into  the  ice  and  climbed  upward. 

Constantly  the  two  men  had  to  hold  to  the 
jagged  rocks  to  their  right,  otherwise,  time 
after  time,  they  would  have  slipped  into  the 
perilous  abyss  below.  Through  the  chasm  the 
moon  poured  its  liquid  rays.  At  certain 
points  towering  crags  shut  off  the  light — then 
Ootah  and  his  companion  had  to  feel  their 
way  slowly  upward  in  the  dark.  Finally 
Ootah's  dogs,  with  a  loud  chorus  of  barking, 
leaped  ahead.  Seizing  an  overhanging  ledge 
of  rock  Ootah  lifted  himself  to  the  top  of  the 
precipice.  Koolotah's  team  followed. 

For  interminable  miles  a  vast  icy  plateau 
stretched  before  them — a  plain  glistening  with 
snow  and  reflecting  like  a  burnished  mirror 
the  misty  silveriness  of  the  moon.  Over  the 
glacial  expanse  an  eerily  greenish  phosphores- 
cence, which  palpitated  and  shifted  at  times 
with  vivid  splashes  of  opal  and  deeper  tones  of 
burning  blue,  hung  low. 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  153 

The  upland  was  split  with  thousands  of 
canyons  that  writhed  over  the  white  expanse 
like  snakes  in  tortuous  convulsions.  From 
these  bottomless  abysses  arose  a  luminous 
amethystine  vapor.  In  the  depths  jutting 
icicles  took  fire  and  glowed  through  the  lus- 
trous mists  like  burning  eyes.  Where  the 
chasms  joined  with  others  or  widened,  ominous 
shapes,  swathed  in  wind-blown  blackish-purple 
robes,  with  extended  arms,  took  form.  As 
Ootah  and  Koolotah  dashed  forward,  great 
spaces  of  clear  ice  palpitated  on  all  sides  of 
them  with  interior  opaline  fires. 

Neither  spoke.  Holding  the  rear  frame- 
work of  their  sleds,  they  trusted  to  the  instinct 
of  their  dogs.  Mile  after  mile  swept  under 
their  feet.  Their  road  often  lay  along  the  very 
edges  of  purple-black  abysses.  The  echoes  of 
their  sharp  gliding  sleds  cutting  the  ice,  of  the 
very  patter  of  their  dogs'  feet,  were  magnified 
in  volume  in  the  clear  air,  and  it  seemed  as 
though,  in  the  hollow  depths  on  every  side, 
ghostly  teams  were  following.  Koolotah  was 


154  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

white  with  fear.  But  Ootah  encouraged  him 
onward. 

They  paced  off  twenty  miles.  They  reached 
an  altitude  of  more  than  a  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea. 

The  great  moon  slowly  circled  about  the 
sky;  the  scurrying  clouds  contorted  like  gro- 
tesque living  things. 

The  two  hunters  made  precipitous  descents 
over  unexpected  frozen  slopes — at  times  it 
seemed  as  though  they  were  about  to  be  hurled 
to  instantaneous  death.  Yet  Ootah  steeled  his 
heart.  His  teeth  chattered  but  he  gritted 
them  firmly. 

"Annadoah  needeth  food,"  he  murmured, 
"and " 

His  eyes  shone,  a  new  pity  not  unmingled 
with  a  taint  of  bitterness  filled  his  heart.  An- 
nadoah must  live;  she  must  have  food.  For 
a  strange  thing,  he  observed,  had  come  upon 
her.  Her  inexplicable  moods,  her  brief  mo- 
ments of  tenderness,  her  riotous  griefs,  and 
other  prefigurements  of  maternity — these 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  155 

made  her  dearer  to  Ootah.  So  he  vigorously 
cracked  his  whip  and  urged  the  dogs. 

The  chasms  twisted  with  lifelike  motion  all 
around  him.  Behind,  as  in  a  dream,  Ootah 
heard  the  whip  of  Koolotah,  and  the  barking 
of  Koolotah's  dogs.  For  hours  his  feet  moved 
swiftly  and  mechanically  under  him.  Once  his 
foot  slipped.  He  swerved  to  the  right.  A 
vast  black  mouth  yawned  hungrily  to  receive 
him;  then  it  closed  behind  him.  The  leaping 
team  of  dogs  had  pulled  him  forward.  Luck- 
ily he  maintained  a  tenacious  hold  to  the  rear 
upstander  of  his  sled. 

Narrow  chasms  constantly  cut  their  trail. 
With  sharp  howls  the  dogs  leaped  over  these, 
the  sleds  passed  safely,  and  by  instinct  Ootah 
would  bound  forward.  Narrower  than  a 
man's  stride  in  width,  Ootah  knew  these  slits 
in  the  glacial  ice  were  hundreds  of  feet  in 
depth,  that  a  slip  of  the  foot  might  plunge  him 
to  immediate  death.  Now  and  then  he  lost  his 
footing  on  the  uneven  ice ;  his  heart  leaped  for 
fear,  but  he  held  grimly  to  the  sledge  and  the 


156  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

lithe,  lean  but  strong  dog-bodies  carried  him  to 
safety.  These  faithful  animals  bounded  over 
the  glimmering  ice  field  with  amazing  speed. 
They  snapped  and  barked  with  the  joy  of  the 
race.  In  the  white  moonlight  the  vapor  of 
their  breathing  enveloped  them  like  a  silvery 
cloud. 

For  hours  the  hunters  continued  the  trail. 
Their  mighty  purpose  fought  off  fatigue. 
The  moon  passed  behind  cumulous  mountains 
of  clouds  along  the  horizon,  and  periods  of 
darkness  blotted  the  world  from  Ootah.  Then 
they  traveled  in  darkness.  A  chill  dampness 
rising  from  the  gaping  abysses  that  sundered 
the  ice  field  told  them  of  their  danger;  then 
Ootah's  heart  chilled,  his  teeth  were  set  chat- 
tering; but  he  thought  of  Annadoah  and  the 
grim  need  of  food,  and  he  gripped  the  up- 
stander  of  his  sled  more  determinedly.  When 
the  moon  again  unclosed  its  pearly  sheen  over 
the  ice,  the  serpentine  chasms  moved  their  tor- 
tuous backs  and  writhed  about  them,  the  icy 
hummocks  billowed,  and  the  glittering  ice- 


THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN  157 

peaked  horizon  swam  in  a  dizzy  circle  of  dia- 
monded light. 

As  their  trail  ascended  higher  the  pene- 
trating cold  dampness  somewhat  moderated. 
In  the  taut  air  the  sound  of  their  whips  was 
like  that  of  splitting  metal.  Shuddering  and 
sepulchral  echoes  answered  the  barking  of 
their  dogs.  The  faithful  ghosts  of  the  dogs  of 
fallen  hunters  were  following  their  departed 
masters  in  the  amethystine  mists  of  the  can- 
yons about  them.  Ootah  and  Koolotah  trem- 
bled with  the  thought  of  the  dreadful  nearness 
of  the  dead.  Believing  other  animals  to  be 
ahead,  the  dogs  set  up  a  wilder,  shriller  howl- 
ing. Then  the  echoes  came  back  with  more 
startling  and  terrifying  proximity.  Ootah's 
flesh  crept.  Finally,  with  an  explosive  sound, 
Koolotah  let  his  whip  fall. 

"Aulate— halt!"  he  called. 

They  came  to  a  dead  standstill. 

"Pst!"  he  whispered.  He  hit  the  snapping, 
whining  dogs.  "Pst!"  They  crouched  to  the 
ground  and  whined  mournfully. 


158  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

"Dost  thou  hear?"  Koolotah  asked  in  a 
hushed  voice.  In  the  moonlight  Ootah  saw 
that  the  lad's  face  was  as  white  as  the  face  of 
the  dead,  and  that  in  his  eyes  was  a  wild  fear. 
From  the  mountain  ridges,  which  loomed  be- 
yond, came  an  ominous  noise — resembling  a 
low  wind.  Ootah  bent  his  head  and  listened  to 
the  sobbing  monotone,  then  whispered: 

"The  breathing  of  the  spirits  of  the  hills 
who  sleep." 

"Perchance  we  waken  them,"  Koolotah  ven- 
tured. 

"That  would  be  bad,"  Ootah  replied. 

"I  have  left  my  mother  forever,"  Koolotah 
wailed. 

"Be  brave,  lad;  they  need  food ;  beseech  the 
spirits  of  those  who  lived  when  men's  sap  was 
stronger,  thy  ancestors,  for  strength.  Come!" 

Koolotah  raised  his  head — then  uttered  a 
low  cry  of  alarm.  He  drew  back,  fearfully, 
pointing  with  a  trembling  arm  to  the  moun- 
tain pass  ahead. 

Covered  with  glacial  snow  and  ice  the  slopes 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  159 

of  the  first  ridge  of  the  interior  mountains 
gleamed  with  frosted  silver.  Over  the  white 
expanse,  formed  by  the  countless  clefts  and 
indentations  of  the  slope,  Cyclopean  shadows 
took  form,  and  like  eldritch  figures  joining 
their  hands  in  a  wild  dance,  loomed  terrify- 
ingly  before  the  two  men.  Their  trail  now 
ascended  through  a  gorge  which  abruptly 
opened  immediately  before  them.  Into  this 
rugged  chasm  the  argent  moonlight  poured, 
and  from  unseen  caverns  in  the  pass  glowered 
monstrous  phosphorescent  green  and  ruby 
eyes. 

From  the  heights  above  fragments  of  clouds 
descended  through  the  chasm.  In  the  full 
moonlight  they  were  transformed  into  tall 
aerial  beings,  of  unearthly  beauty.  They  were 
swathed  in  luminous  robes  that  fluttered  gen- 
tly upon  the  air,  and  like  the  birds  they  soared, 
with  tremulous  wings  resembling  films  of  sil- 
ver. They  moved  softly,  with  great  majesty. 
As  he  looked  upon  the  descending  wraiths, 
Koolotah  saw  they  had  the  spirit-semblance  of 


160  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

gleaming  faces,  and  that  their  eyes  burned, 
through  the  enveloping  cloud-veils,  like  fire. 
He  drew  back,  afraid. 

"The  dead  .  .  .  'he  murmured  .  .  . 
"We  have  come  unto  the  land  of  the  dead." 

Both  stood  in  silence,  reverent,  awed,  half- 
afraid. 

Then  Ootah  snapped  his  whip.  He  called 
to  the  dogs. 

"Let  us  go  unto  them  .  .  .  Let  us  show 
that  men  are  not  afraid.  Huk!  Huk!  Huk! 
Come!" 

The  dogs  howled,  the  traces  tightened,  the 
sleds  sped  forward.  They  entered  the  defile. 
The  trail  twisted  up  the  side  of  the  abyss. 
Less  than  three  feet  wide  for  long  stretches, 
the  dogs  had  to  slacken  and  pass  upward  in 
line,  one  by  one.  Covered  with  new  ice  it  was 
dangerously  slippery,  and  in  climbing  the  men 
had  to  hold  to  jutting  icicles  for  support. 

Ootah  was  ahead.  At  times  sheer  walls  of 
ice  confronted  him.  At  certain  places  there 
had  been  drifts,  at  others  glacial  fragments 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  161 

had  slipped  from  the  mountain  above.  Before 
these  almost  insuperable  walls  Ootah  would 
pause  and  with  his  axe  hew  steps  in  the  hard 
ice. 

They  slowly  toiled  ahead  for  an  hour.  Then 
a  blank  sloping  ice  wall,  twice  the  height  of 
Ootah,  blocked  the  path.  He  grasped  his  axe 
and  began  hewing  a  series  of  ascending  steps. 
He  breathed  with  difficulty ;  the  air  in  the  high 
altitude  made  respiration  difficult.  He  was 
soon  bathed  in  perspiration.  The  moisture  of 
his  breath  and  beads  of  sweat  froze  about  his 
face,  covering  him  with  an  icy  mask.  His  eye- 
lashes froze  together.  He  had  to  pause  to 
melt  the  quickly  congealing  tears.  He  suf- 
fered unendurably.  Finally  his  axe  split ;  the 
ice  was  harder  than  his  steel.  He  uttered  an 
impatient  exclamation. 

"Thy  axe!"  he  called  to  Koolotah. 

Koolotah  swung  his  axe  in  the  air  and  over 
the  dog  team  separating  them.  Ootah  leaped 
from  his  feet  and  caught  the  axe  as  it  soared 
above  him.  In  a  half  hour  the  step-like  trail 


162  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

was  cut,  and  he  clambered  over  the  wall.  Dig- 
ging their  nails  into  the  indentations,  the  dogs 
followed.  Then  Koolotah  and  his  team  scaled 
the  obstruction. 

Koolotah  felt  his  heart  choking  him  as  it 
seemed  to  enlarge  within ;  Ootah,  in  truth,  was 
not  entirely  unafraid.  Both  knew  that  a  slip 
of  the  foot  would  plunge  them  to  instant 
death.  As  they  ascended  the  trail,  the  gather- 
ing clouds  surrounded  them.  They  could  no 
longer  see  their  dogs.  They  could  not  even 
perceive  the  blackness  of  the  chasm  to  their 
right.  Above  and  below  they  were  enveloped 
in  a  silver  mist.  Only  the  reflected  glitter  of 
the  moonlight  on  jutting  icicles  on  the  oppo- 
site indicated  the  depths  so  perilously  near. 
Through  the  mist  Koolotah  saw  the  green  and 
crimson  eyes  of  baleful  creatures  that  might, 
at  any  moment,  spring  upon  him. 

When  they  reached  the  inland  valley  they 
were  both  spent  in  strength.  In  sheer  relief 
from  the  agonized  suspense  of  the  journey 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  163 

they  sank  on  their  sledges  and  lay  palpitating 
for  an  hour  or  more.  But  the  cold  froze  their 
perspiring  garments  and  they  had  to  rise  and 
exercise  so  as  not  to  freeze  to  death.  Ootah 
knew  that  no  time  could  be  lost.  In  the  in- 
terior mountains  the  breathing  of  the  hill 
spirits  was  becoming  more  uneasy.  And 
Ootah  noted  with  anxiety  the  increasing  mod- 
eration of  the  atmosphere.  That  was  not  well. 
When  the  cold  relented  the  hill  spirits  released 
the  glaciers. 

With  frantic  eagerness  they  explored  the 
valley.  The  green  grass  whereon  Ootah  had 
seen  the  splendid  animals  grazing  months  be- 
fore was  covered  with  ice.  There  was  no  sign 
of  the  ahmingmah.  Ootah's  heart  sank.  He 
felt  very  much  like  weeping. 

Suddenly  the  dogs  began  to  sniff  the  air  and 
bark  hungrily. 

" Ahmingmah!"  Koolotah  cried,  joyfully. 

Ootah  released  the  team — the  dogs  made  a 
misty  black  streak  in  their  dash  over  the  ice. 
The  men  followed. 


164  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

In  the  shelter  of  a  cave  they  found  five  musk 
oxen.  They  were  huddled  together  and  half 
numb  with  cold.  They  roared  dully  as  the 
howling  dogs  assaulted  them,  and  rushed  lum- 
beringly  from  the  cave  into  the  moonlight. 
Five  great  black  hulks,  with  mighty  manes  of 
coarse  hair,  they  ambled  over  the  ice  for  a 
space  of  five  hundred  feet  and  then,  sur- 
rounded by  the  dogs,  assembled  in  a  circle, 
their  backs  together,  their  heads  facing  the 
howling  dogs.  Thus  they  were  prepared  to 
protect  themselves  from  attack. 

The  dogs,  frantic  with  hunger,  made  fierce 
rushes  at  the  animals.  Now  and  then,  as  the 
dogs  dashed  forward,  one  of  the  great  beasts 
would  charge,  its  head  lowered,  and  the  dogs 
would  leap  backward  into  the  air  and  scatter. 
Then  turning,  the  animal  would  rush  back  to 
its  companions  as  fast  as  its  numbed  legs  could 
carry  it. 

Through  the  white  vapor  of  their  breath, 
which  half  hid  their  great  horned  heads,  Ootah 
could  see  the  eyes  of  the  musk-oxen — they 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  165 

were  greenish  and  phosphorescent.  Occasion- 
ally the  creatures  roared  sullenly,  but  the  fight 
was  less  exciting  than  it  would  have  been  had 
they  been  less  torpid  from  hunger  and  cold. 

Ootah  called  away  the  dogs,  and  raised  his 
gun,  one  which  Olafaksoah,  in  payment  for 
the  five  sledloads  of  walrus  blubber  which  he 
confiscated  after  Ootah's  flight  to  the  moun- 
tains, had  left  with  a  generous  supply  of  am- 
munition with  a  companion.  Ootah  now  real- 
ized the  value  of  the  payment  which  he  had 
scorned. 

There  was  a  yellow  flash  in  the  moonlight — 
a  mighty  roar  went  up.  The  dogs,  with  a 
cyclonic  dash,  swooped  upon  the  fallen  mon- 
ster, snapping  viciously  at  it  as  it  roared  in 
its  death  agony.  Frightened,  the  other  four 
scattered — one  rushed  into  the  shelter  of  the 
cave,  the  other  three,  dispersing,  soon  became 
diminishing  black  specks  in  the  moonlight. 
The  dogs  would  have  followed,  but  Ootah 
called  them  back.  One  animal  was  even  more 
than  they  could  manage. 


166  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

With  quick  despatch  they  fell  upon  the  ani- 
mal with  their  knives.  Neither  spoke — they 
worked  breathlessly.  With  marvellous  skill 
they  peeled  off  the  heavy  skin,  and  with  amaz- 
ing dexterity  carved  great  masses  of  bleeding 
meat  clean  from  the  bones.  When  they  had 
finished,  only  a  great  skeleton  remained.  Out- 
side the  cave,  eager,  whining,  the  starving  dogs 
obediently  crouched.  When  they  had  com- 
pleted the  task  of  dressing,  Ootah  lifted  his 
hand  and  the  canines,  with  howling  avidity, 
fell  upon  the  steaming  mass  of  entrails. 

Upon  the  two  sledges  the  hunters  loaded 
and  lashed  securely  their  treasure  of  meat.  In 
the  moonlight  the  hot  steam  rose  from  the 
tremulous  masses  and  Ootah's  nostrils  dilated 
with  eager,  anticipatory  delight.  The  blood 
dripped  upon  the  snow  and  Ootah's  stomach 
ached.  He  had  not  dared  to  think  of  eating 
until  now.  Their  hands  shaking  with  nervous 
hunger,  the  two  fell  upon  the  remaining  meat. 
They  feasted  with  that  savage  hungry  joy 
known  only  to  human  creatures  who  have 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  167 

faced  starvation.  When  they  started  on  the 
return  journey  there  was  a  new  vibrant  elas- 
ticity in  their  steps. 

Ootah  snapped  his  whip  and  sang. 

And  his  heart  sang,  too,  of  Annadoah. 

Looking  at  the  clouds,  as  they  drifted 
through  the  valley,  Ootah  imagined  he  saw 
Annadoah  lying  upon  her  couch  asleep,  and 
in  the  faint  light  of  an  oil  lamp  he  saw  upon 
her  face  a  pleased  smile. 

"Of  what  doth  Annadoah  dream?"  Ootah 
asked  the  winds. 

"Of  springtime  when  the  flowers  bloom," 
the  winds  replied. 

"And  Annadoah  will  move  to  a  new  skin 
tent  with  Ootah!"  he  said,  joyously,  exultant- 
ly. "Ootah  will  bring  food  unto  Annadoah 
and  she  will  reward  him  with  her  love." 

"Foolish  Ootah,"  moaned  the  wind,  "love 
cannot  be  won  with  food,  neither  with  ahming- 
mah  meat  nor  walrus  blubber."  Ootah  felt  his 
heart  sink ;  a  vague  and  heavy  misgiving  filled 
him.  Being  very  simple,  he  had  always 


168  THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN 

thought  that  by  securing  wealth,  in  dogs  and 
food,  in  guns  and  ammunition,  and  by  achiev- 
ing pre-eminence  on  the  hunt,  he  should  win 
Annadoah's  confidence  and  love.  But  now, 
upon  the  breath  of  the  winds,  by  the  voices  of 
nature,  doubt  came  into  his  heart.  The  mis- 
take of  many  men  the  world  over,  and  of  many 
wiser  than  he,  he  could  not  understand  just 
why  this  was — this  thing  the  winds  said,  and 
which  his  own  heart  correspondingly  whis- 
pered. With  food  he  might  possibly  win  An- 
nadoah's consent  to  be  his  wife,  yes,  he  knew 
that;  but  Annadoah's  love — that  was  another 
thing.  Surely,  he  now  realized,  as  he  strode 
along,  that  by  simply  giving  her  food  he  could 
not  expect  to  stir  in  her  heart  a  response  to 
that  which  throbbed  in  his.  But  why?  Singu- 
larly he  never  thought  of  the  bravery  of  his 
seeking  food  on  this  perilous  adventure,  an  act 
which,  had  he  known  it,  had  indeed  touched 
the  heart  of  the  beautiful  maiden. 

With  the  quick  atmospheric  change  of  the 
arctic — a  phenomenon  common  to  zones  of  ex- 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  169 

treme  temperature — the  wind  steadily  in- 
creased in  velocity  and  warmth.  The  shallow 
moon- shot  clouds  on  the  ice  thickened  and 
swept  softly  under  the  two  travellers'  feet. 
Above  their  waists  the  air  was  clear — they  saw 
each  other  distinctly  in  the  moonlight.  Yet 
their  dogs,  hidden  in  the  low-lying  vapor,  were 
invisible.  Great  masses  of  clouds  slowly  piled 
along  the  horizon  and  the  moon  was  often  ob- 
scured. Then  the  two  walked  in  a  darkness 
so  thick  it  seemed  palpable. 

"Hark!"  Ootah  called,  during  one  of  these 
spells.  "What  is  that?"  A  shuddering  sound 
split  the  air;  the  ice  field  on  which  they  trav- 
elled vibrated  with  an  ominous  jar.  The 
echoes  of  splitting  ice  came  like  distant  ex- 
plosions. 

"Have  we  disturbed  the  spirits  of  the  hills?" 
asked  Koolotah,  in  a  whisper. 

"No,  no,"  answered  Ootah,  anxiously.. 
ffHuk!  Huk!"  He  snapped  his  whip  and 
urged  the  dogs.  They  had  not  gone  twenty 
paces  when  from  the  interior  heights  of 


170  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

Greenland  came  a  series  of  muffled  explosions. 
Undoubtedly  the  hill  spirits  had  wakened,  and, 
angry,  were  hurling  their  terrible  weapons. 

They  reached,  in  due  course,  the  top  of  a 
mountain  ridge  down  part  of  the  glassy  slopes 
of  which  they  had  to  make  their  way  to  the 
entrance  of  the  cleft  in  which  the  trail  they 
had  so  laboriously  hewn  lay.  The  gorge 
yawned  blackly  some  five  hundred  feet  below. 
In  anticipation  of  their  return  with  loaded 
sledges,  Ootah,  on  the  last  reach  of  their  up- 
land climb,  had  chopped  on  the  smooth  snows 
of  the  mountainside  a  narrow  path  that  ran 
backward  and  forward  in  the  fashion  of  a 
gently  inclining  elongated  spiral.  The  moun- 
tain sloped  at  an  angle  of  eighty  degrees,  but 
by  descending  cautiously  along  this  circuitous 
trail  a  safe  descent  was  possible. 

While  Ootah  and  his  companion  stood  on 
the  peak,  the  moon  passed  behind  a  veil  of 
clouds  and  Ootah  felt  two  soft  wraith-like 
hands  pass  over  his  face — cloud-hands  which 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  171 

his  simple  mind  believed  were  sentient  things. 
His  heart  for  the  moment  seemed  to  stop. 
Thus  the  kind  spirits  warn  men  of  danger. 

At  that  instant  a  stinging  sound  smote  the 
air.  The  glacial  side  of  the  mountain  trem- 
bled, and  as  the  moon  reappeared,  on  the  icy 
slopes  Ootah  saw  narrow  black  cracks  zigzag- 
ging in  various  directions.  A  cataclysmic 
rumbling  sounded  deep  in  the  earth. 

When  the  echoes  died  away  he  turned  to 
Koolotah. 

"Be  brave  of  heart.  Let  us  go — there  is  no 
time  to  lose." 

"Huk!  Huk!  Huk!"  They  urged  the  dogs 
gently.  Arranging  themselves  instinctively  in 
single  file,  the  traces  slackening,  the  wonderful 
dogs,  with  feline  caution,  crept  ahead.  Low- 
ering their  bodies,  each  behind  his  sledge, 
Ootah  and  Koolotah  began  moving  stealthily 
downward.  With  one  hand  each  clung  to  the 
rough  icy  projections  of  the  slope;  with  the 
other  they  held  the  rear  upstander  of  their 
sleds  to  prevent  them  from  sliding,  with  their 


172  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

precious  loads  of  meat,  down  the  mountain- 
side. 

Half  way  down,  Ootah  uttered  a  cry. 

His  quick  ear  detected  a  faint  splitting 
noise,  like  the  crack  of  young  ice  in  forming, 
under  his  feet.  In  an  instant  he  realized  their 
danger. 

At  the  time  he  had  reached  a  hollow  in  the 
perilous  slope.  The  dogs  ahead,  with  quick 
instinct,  retreated  and  crouched  at  his  feet  in 
the  sheltering  cradle. 

Ootah  saw  Koolotah  turn  and  look  inquir- 
ingly upward.  The  next  moment,  driven 
downward  by  the  wind,  a  mass  of  clouds,  glit- 
tering with  bleached  moonfire,  rolled  over  the 
slopes  and  hid  Koolotah.  Ootah  only  heard 
his  voice. 

Then  the  glacial  mountainside  to  which  he 
clung  trembled.  A  terrific  crash,  like  that  of 
cannon,  followed.  The  very  mountain  seemed 
to  shake.  For  a  brief  awful  spell  everything 
was  still — then,  with  an  appalling  thunder,  the 
ice  split  and  began  to  move.  The  moon  re- 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  173 

appeared  and  Ootah — in  a  tense  moment — 
saw  chasms  widening  about  him  on  the  glisten- 
ing slope.  He  heard  the  deafening  echoing 
explosions  of  splitting  ice  in  the  distance  .  .  . 
With  fierce  ferocity  he  instinctively  fastened 
one  bleeding  hand  to  an  icy  projection  above 
him,  with  the  other  he  held  with  grimly  des- 
perate determination  to  the  sled  ...  In  the 
next  dizzy  instant  he  felt  the  icy  floor  beneath 
him  lurch  itself  forward  and  downward  .  .  . 
before  his  very  eyes  he  saw  Koolotah  and  his 
team — not  twenty  feet  below — wiped  from 
existence  by  the  descending  glacier  to  which 
he  clung  and  in  the  hollow  crevice  of  which 
he  found  security  ...  In  a  second's  space 
he  caught  a  clear  vision  of  tremendous  masses 
of  green  and  purple  glaciers  being  ground  to 
fine  powder  in  their  swift  descent  on  all  sides 
of  him,  ...  he  saw  the  feathery  ice  frag- 
ments catch  fire  in  the  moonlight,  ...  he 
heard  the  elemental  roar  and  grinding  crash 
of  ice  mountains  sundering  in  a  titanic  con- 
vulsion .  .  .  then  he  lost  hearing  ...  In 


174  THE  ETEENAL  MAIDEN 

that  same  sick  bewildering  moment  of  preter- 
natural consciousness  he  thought  wildly  of 
Annadoah  ...  he  saw  her  appealing  wan 
face  amid  the  blur  of  white  moonlight  .  .  . 
he  knew  she  needed  food  .  .  .  and  he  felt  an 
ache  at  his  heart  ...  he  called  upon  the 
spirits  of  his  ancestors.  Then  the  silvery 
swimming  world  of  white  dust-driven  fire  be- 
came suddenly  black — and  the  earth  seemed 
removed  from  under  him. 

In  the  village  the  natives  were  awakened 
from  their  lethargic  sleep  by  the  far-away 
crash  of  the  avalanche.  Their  faces  blanched 
as  they  thought  of  the  hunters.  "The  hill 
spirits  have  smitten !  loh!  loh!"  they  moaned. 
In  her  igloo  Annadoah,  who  had  waited  with 
sleepless  anxiety,  wept  alone.  Of  all  in  the 
village  only  the  heart  of  one,  Maisanguaq,  was 
glad. 


VII 

•m 

"The  utter  tragedy  of  her  devotion  to  the 
man  who  had  deserted  her,  and  the  utter  hope- 
lessness of  his  own  deep  passion,  blightingly, 
horribly  forced  itself  upon  him  .  .  .  Ootah 
asked  himself  all  the  questions  men  ask  in  such 
a  crisis  .  .  .  and  he  demanded  with  wild 
weeping  their  answer  from  the  dead  rejoicing 
in  the  auroral  Valhalla.  But  there  was  no 
answer — as  perhaps  there  may  be  no  answer; 
or,  if  there  is,  that  God  fearing  lest,  in  attain- 
ing the  Great  Desire,  men  should  cease  to  en- 
deavor; to  serve  and  to  labor  has  kept  it  locked 
where  He  and  the  dead  live  beyond  the  skies." 

THE  moon  dipped  behind  the  horizon. 
For  five  sleeps  naught  had  been  heard 
from  Ootah  and  his  companion.     Inetlia,  the 
sister  of  Koolotah,  followed  in  turn  by  some 
of  the  other  women,  visited  the  igloo  of  Anna- 

175 


176  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

doah.  Upon  her  couch  of  moss  Annadoah  lay, 
and  over  her  a  cover  given  by  Ootah  and  lined 
with  the  feathers  of  birds. 

'Twas  thou  who  sent  Ootah  to  the  moun- 
tains," one  complained.  "May  the  ravens 
peck  thine  eyes!"  cried  another.  Annadoah 
shook  her  head  sadly  and  wept. 

"  'Twas   thou   who   chose   Olafaksoah,   the 

• 

robber  from  the  south,  that  thou  mightest  be 
his  wife;  and  'twas  thou,  his  wife,  who  be- 
guiled the  men  and  robbed  thy  tribe.  Did  we 
not  give  away  our  skins,  and  didst  thou  not 
make  garments  for  Olafaksoah?  And  do  we 
not  now  shudder  from  the  cold?  'Twas  thou 
who  put  the  madness  into  the  head  of  Ootah, 
the  strongest  of  the  tribe.  Many  are  the 
maidens  who  are  husbandless  and  yet  Ootah 
pined  for  thee.  Why  didst  thou  not  choose 
Ootah?  Then  he  would  have  remained  and 
prevented  the  thievery  of  the  strangers,  we 
should  not  have  been  robbed,  and  he  would 
not  have  had  to  go  far  unto  the  mountains, 
where  the  spirits  have  struck  him  in  their 


THE  ETEKNAL   MAIDEN  177 

wrath?  Nay,  nay,  thou  didst  make  the  men 
of  our  tribe  sick  with  thoughts  of  thee.  They 
have  quarrelled  among  themselves.  And  be- 
fore the  white  men  came,  did  they  not  re- 
proach us,  their  wives  and  their  betrothed, 
with  thy  name  and  the  vaunted  skill  of  thee? 
Thou  art  as  the  woman  with  an  iron  tail,  she 
who  killed  men  when  they  came  to  her,  their 
skins  flushed  with  love.  Thou  destroyest  men ! 
Thou  didst  send  Ootah  and  Koolotal  to  the 
mountains!  And  they  have  perished!  loh-h! 
loh-h!" 

Entering  her  igloo  two  or  three  at  a  time 
they  reproachfully  recited  in  chiding  chants  to 
Annadoah  the  story  of  her  life;  how  her 
worthy  mother  and  august  grand-parents  had 
died,  hoping  she  would  choose  a  husband  from 
the  hunters,  and  how  she  had  refused  all  who 
sought  her;  they  told,  with  reiterant  detail, 
how  she  had  caused  quarrels  among  the  men, 
and  sent  many  of  the  warriors  in  their  com- 
petitive hunts  to  death ;  and  how,  finally,  when 
Ootah,  the  bravest  of  the  hunters,  wanted  to 


178  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

wed  her,  she  had  chosen  a  foreign  man,  who 
deserted  her  and  left  her  a  burden  on  the  tribe. 
Sometimes  they  shook  her  roughly. 

To  the  native  women  the  brutality  and  vir- 
ility of  the  men  from  the  south  exert  a  potent 
appeal;  and  the  fact  that  Olafaksoah  had 
chosen  Annadoah  many  moons  since  still  made 
their  mouth  taste  bitter.  This  jealousy  rank- 
ling within  them,  they  now  with  angry  exulta- 
tion took  occasion  to  mock  and  abuse  her. 
The  girl  lay  still  and  did  not  reply.  Her 
heart  indeed  seemed  like  a  bird  lying  dead  in 
wintertime. 

Then  one  of  three  women  who  stood  by 
Annadoah's  couch  leaned  forward  and  whis- 
pered a  terrible  thing.  The  others  looked  at 
the  girl  and  fear,  mingled  with  hatred,  shone 
in  their  eyes. 

"Thou  sayest  this  thing,"  said  one,  "how 
dost  thou  know?" 

And  the  other,  pointing  accusingly  to  the 
girl  who  lay  before  them,  her  face  hidden  in 
her  arms,  replied: 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  179 

"The  night  my  baby  died  ...  I  heard  her 
voice." 

They  stood  in  silence,  rigid,  implacable,  bit- 
ter. 

During  the  latter  dark  days  a  terrible  ca- 
lamity had  made  itself  felt  among  the  tribe. 
This  was  the  death  of  many  of  the  newly  born. 
Outside  the  igloos  during  the  past  months,  as 
the  babies  had  come,  the  number  of  tiny 
mounds  had  increased,  and  when  the  aurora 
flooded  the  skies  heart-broken  mothers  could 
be  seen  weeping  over  these  graves  of  snow.  It 
is  not  uncommon  in  this  land  for  babies  to  die 
at  birth  or  come  prematurely ;  but  the  number 
of  recent  deaths  and  tragic  accidents  to  ex- 
pectant mothers  was  unprecedented.  This 
was  undoubtedly  due  to  the  depleted  vitality 
of  the  starving  mothers — but  to  the  natives 
there  was  some  other,  some  unaccountable, 
some  sinister,  cause.  In  their  hearts  they  ex- 
perienced, each  time  a  new  mound  rose  white 
in  the  moonlight,  that  tremulous  terror  of  a 
people  who  instinctively  fear  extinction.  The 


180  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

grief  of  a  mother  was  for  a  personal  loss ;  to 
the  tribe  each  death  meant  an  even  greater, 
more  significant  loss,  a  thing  of  more  than 
personal  consequence. 

And  when,  out  of  the  dim  regions  of  her 
brain,  one  of  the  women  now  conjured  the  ter- 
rible thing  which  she  whispered  concerning 
Annadoah,  it  was  little  wonder  the  other  two 
regarded  the  girl  as  a  thing  hateful  and  ac- 
cursed. 

"She  stealeth  souls!" 

Nothing  more  frightful  could  have  been 
said. 

"Yea,  the  night  my  baby  died  I  heard  her 
voice,"  repeated  Inetlia  angrily. 

And  the  other,  among  the  superstitious 
voices  in  her  memory,  found  it  not  difficult  to 
recall  a  similar  thing: 

"Methinks  I  heard  her  sing  the  night  my 
own  little  one  came — too  soon." 

And  the  third  whispered: 

"She  is  as  the  hungry  hill  spirit  who  feasts 
upon  the  entrails  of  the  dead.  Yea,  she  car- 


THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN  181 

rieth  off  the  souls  of  the  children.  loh! 
look!" 

Their  voices  rose  in  a  maniacal  cry  of  terror 
and  denunciation. 

Annadoah  rose.  Clasping  her  hands,  she 
demanded  piteously: 

"Why   .   .   .   sayest  ye  this  of  me?" 

And  they  shrieked: 

"Thou  stealest  souls!  By  the  angakoq  shalt 
thou  be  accursed!" 

"No,  no!  No,  no!"  the  girl  pleaded,  falling 
on  her  knees  and  weeping. 

Although  they  suddenly  ceased  their  revil- 
ing, hearing  outside  the  barking  of  dogs,  the 
women  thereafter  in  secret  often  assembled 
together;  there  were  ominous  whisperings; 
and  each  time  a  child  died  visits  were  paid  to 
the  angakoq,  and  the  unseen  powers  were  in- 
voked to  bring  misfortune  to  Annadoah. 

Outside  the  silenced  women  detected  the 
barking  of  dogs  approaching  the  village  from 
the  distance.  They  heard  the  excited  calls  of 
tribesmen  and  the  chatter  of  other  women. 


182  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

One  by  one  they  crept  from  the  igloo.  A 
strange  light  in  her  eyes,  Annadoah  followed. 
Over  the  mountains  to  the  north  a  soft  and 
wondrous  light  hegan  to  palpitate  tremu- 
lously ...  While  the  men  of  the  tribe 
rushed  to  meet  the  oncoming  team  of  dogs  in 
the  distance,  the  women  stood  and  gazed  with 
awe  upon  the  increasing  wonder  in  the  skies 
.  .  .  The  northern  lights,  seen  nowhere  else 
so  splendidly  in  all  the  world,  had  begun  the 
weaving  of  their  glorious  and  eerie  imagery. 
A  nebulous  film  of  silvery  light  wavered  with 
incredible  swiftness  over  the  heavens  .  .  .  The 
snow-blanketed  land  took  instantaneous  fire 
in  the  sudden  flares  ...  In  the  torridly 
tropic  heaven  of  the  virtuous  dead  an  Un- 
known God,  so  the  tribes  believe,  makes  fire — 
just  as  in  the  nether  regions  beneath  the  earth 
the  Great  Evil,  who  has  revealed  himself  with 
a  more  terrible  reality  than  the  Great  Benign, 
creates  cold  and  forges  ice.  In  that  land  of 
the  happy  dead,  disclosed  in  the  aurora,  there 
is  never  any  night,  nor  is  it  ever  cold.  So  the 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  183 

souls  there  are  always  happy.  Sometimes  in 
their  revels  they  troop  earthward  to  cheer  the 
mortals  who  suffer  from  Perdlugssuaq's  frigid 
breath  as  it  comes  during  winter  from  hell 
.  .  .  The  women  looked  at  one  another.  The 
augury  was  good. 

"The  spirits  of  the  dead,"  one  whispered, 
"are  happy  .  .  .  They  are  playing  ball." 

Into  their  midst,  surrounded  by  the  glad 
cheering  men  of  the  tribe,  Ootah  staggered. 
His  face  was  cut  and  covered  with  black 
clotted  blood.  His  legs  dragged  with  utter 
exhaustion.  His  features  were  gaunt  and 
marked  by  lines  of  frightful  suffering.  His 
eyes  were  bright  with  the  light  of  fever.  When 
he  saw  Annadoah  a  faint  but  very  glad  smile 
passed  over  his  countenance;  he  made  an 
effort  to  forget  the  anguished  throes  of  pain 
in  his  limbs  and  the  intermittent  shudderings 
of  cold  and  flushes  of  intense  fever.  He  tried 
to  speak,  but  then  shook  his  head  sadly.  In- 
stead, he  pointed  to  the  dilapidated  sledge. 
Three  of  his  dogs  had  perished — five  had  been 


184  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

saved.  The  sled  had  been  battered,  but  was 
lashed  together.  Upon  it,  however,  the  pre- 
cious load  of  meat  was  intact.  The  subtle 
aroma  of  it  sent  a  wave  of  gladness  through 
the  crowd.  They  danced  about  Ootah,  asking 
questions.  Ootah  staggered  backward  and 
sank  helpless  against  the  sledge.  After  a 
while  he  found  voice. 

"I  am  very  weak,"  he  managed  to  say. 

Several  of  the  women  disappeared  and  soon 
returned  with  a  bit  of  walrus  blubber.  This, 
having  undergone  a  process  of  fermentation 
in  the  earth,  possessed  the  intoxicating  qual- 
ities of  alcohol.  It  is  used  by  the  natives  for 
purposes  of  stimulation  in  such  cases  and  in 
their  celebrations.  Ootah  with  difficulty  ate 
this. 

He  felt  stronger,  and  rose. 

"Thou  art  ill,"  said  Annadoah,  approaching 
him,  and  gently  touching  his  wounded  face. 
"Enter,  Annadoah  will  care  for  thee." 

Her  face  was  perilously  near  him;  it  was 
very  wan  and  beautiful  in  the  auroral  light — 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  185 

Ootah  felt  his  heart  beat  wildly.  But  it  was 
pity,  not  love,  that  shone  softly  from  Anna- 
doah's  eyes. 

"Thy  igloo  is  cold,  thy  lamp  unlighted," 
Annadoah  insisted.  "Come!  The  others  will 
prepare  thy  couch  and  light  thy  lamps.  Until 
then  my  bed  is  thine.  It  is  warm  within." 

With  difficulty  Ootah  bent  low  and  followed 
Annadoah  through  the  underground  entrance 
of  her  igloo.  His  dogs,  which  the  men  had  un- 
hitched, and  as  many  as  could  enter  the  small 
enclosure,  followed.  The  stench  of  the  oil 
lamp  at  first  almost  suffocated  him.  He  sank 
to  Annadoah's  couch  from  sheer  weakness,  and 
his  dogs,  licking  his  face  and  hands,  crept 
about  him. 

Meanwhile  Annadoah  began  melting  snow 
over  her  lamp.  The  others  plied  Ootah  with 
questions.  Did  he  go  far  into  the  mountains? 
Were  there  many  ahmingmah?  Did  Koolotah 
perish?  Was  he  in  the  mountains  when  the 
spirits  struck?  To  all  of  this  he  could  only 
move  his  head  in  response.  While  he  sipped 


186  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

the  warm  water  gratefully,  Annadoah  cut 
away  his  leather  boots  and  bathed  his  injuries. 
His  flesh  was  torn  and  one  ankle  was  sprained 
— by  a  miracle  not  a  bone  had  been  broken  in 
the  fall.  With  unguents  left  years  before  by 
white  men,  Annadoah  treated  his  many  cuts 
and  bruises  and  bound  them  securely  with 
clean  leather.  After  he  lay  back  on  the  couch 
she  bathed  his  face,  and  rubbed  into  the 
wounds  salves  which  her  father  had  given  to 
her  mother  and  which  for  years  had  been 
preciously  preserved. 

Ootah  lay  with  his  eyes  closed;  he  seemed 
to  float  in  the  auroral  skies  without,  in  the 
very  happy  land  of  the  dead.  He  forgot  the 
pain  in  his  limbs,  the  furnace  in  his  forehead. 
He  felt  only  the  soothing  touch  of  Anna- 
doah's  dear  hands,  and  her  breath  at  times 
very  near,  fanning  his  face ;  he  heard  her  voice 
murmuring  to  the  onlooking  natives.  Not 
satisfied  with  these  ministrations,  in  which  they 
really  had  little  faith,  the  others  presently 
brought  a  young  angakoq,  one  better  loved 


THE   ETERNAL  MAIDEN  187 

than  the  dead  Sipsu.  For  being  young  he  had 
not  prophesied  many  deaths. 

All  moved  away  as  the  magician  began 
beating  his  membrane  drum  over  Ootah's 
body.  Working  himself  into  frenzy,  he  called 
upon  his  familiar  spirits.  For,  according  to 
their  belief,  illness,  and  the  suffering  resultant 
from  wounds,  are  actually  caused  by  the 
spirits  of  the  various  members  of  the  body 
falling  out  of  harmony.  Then  the  angdkoq 
must  persuade  his  friends  in  the  other  world 
to  restore  peace  among  the  spirits  of  the  hu- 
man hands,  feet,  head,  or  whatever  limbs  may 
be  affected.  The  soul,  or  great  spirit,  they  say 
resides  in  one's  shadow,  and  sometimes  this 
falls  out  of  agreement  with  the  minor  spirits 
of  the  body.  Then  one  is  in  bad  shape,  indeed. 

For  half  an  hour  the  chant  and  dance  con- 
tinued. Meanwhile  Ootah  opened  his  eyes 
and  often  smiled  at  Annadoah.  He  was  better, 
he  told  them,  and  motioned  the  angakoq  to  go. 
He  bade  Annadoah  sit  beside  him.  He  felt 
unquestionably  better. 


188  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

"You  have  asked  me  whether  I  went  far 
over  the  mountains?  Yea,  we  travelled  many 
sleeps,  yet  we  scarcely  rested.  The  world  was 
white  about  us.  The  spirits  carried  us  over 
dark  places  in  the  hills,  wherein  Perdlugssuaq 
makes  his  home.  But  he  did  not  strike.  We 
were  borne  over  abysses.  The  spirits  of  one's 
ancestors  are  often  kind.  We  went  through 
the  world  of  the  fog,  she  who  was  the  wife  of 
that  hill  spirit  who  carried  the  dead  from  their 
graves  and  ate  them.  Yea,  she  passed  beneath 
our  feet.  We  came  to  the  high  mountains. 
We  passed  upward  where  the  eyes  of  strange 
beasts  glared  upon  us.  I  was  afraid.  But  I 
called  upon  my  father.  Then  the  spirits  of 
the  great  dead  came  down  upon  us.  They 
wore  kamiks  and  ahttees  of  fire.  Their  eyes 
burned  as  the  great  light  of  the  stars.  They 
did  not  regard  us.  We  came  unto  the  ahming- 
mah  .  .  .  But  upon  our  return  the  hill  spirits 
who  live  in  the  caves  wakened  and  struck  with 
their  great  harpoons.  They  shook  the  moun- 
tains. Then  the  good  ancestors  carried  me 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  189 

through  sila — the  world  of  the  air — yea,  my 
dogs,  my  sledge,  and  the  ahmingmdh  meat.  I 
had  called  upon  those  who  went  before  me.  I 
woke  at  the  bottom  of  the  mountain,  three  of 
my  dogs  were  crushed,  my  sledge  was  broken 
...  I  lay  there  a  while  ...  I  slept  again 
.  .  .  often  .  .  .  Then  I  lashed  the  sled,  ate 
a  little  of  the  ahmingmah  meat,  and  came 
.  .  .  hither  .  .  .  How  .  .  .  Ootah  knows 
not  ...  It  was  hard  at  times  ...  I  could 
hardly  walk  .  .  .  the  ice  moved  about  me 
.  .  .  always  .  .  .  so — "  He  described  a 
circle  with  his  hand.  "But  I  bethought  me 
of  Annadoah — "  he  smiled — "and  I  said  I  go 
to  Annadoah  .  .  .  That  is  how  I  came  .  .  . 
I  said  Annadoah  is  hungry — yea,  as  I  said  it 
when  the  eyes  looked  at  me  on  the  mountains, 
when  the  hill  spirits  made  my  heart  grow  cold, 
when  Koolotah  desired  to  return  .  .  .  Koo- 
lotah — he  hath  gone  .  .  .  Koolotah's  dogs  are 
gone  .  .  .  But  I  called  upon  my  dead  father, 
my  dead  grandfather,  and  the  older  ones — and 
I  thought  of  Annadoah."  He  leaned  toward 


190  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

her  yearningly,  his  voice  trembling.  Fearfully 
the  girl  drew  away.  "It  is  she  who  brought 
the  ahmingmah  meat,"  he  said.  "It  is  she  who 
led  me  to  the  ahmingmah.  Yea,  she  brings 
you  the  ahmingmah  meat.  For  the  thought 
of  her  brings  Ootah  back  after  the  spirits 
strike  ...  It  is  she,  who  lives  in  the  heart  of 
Ootah,  who  has  done  all  this  .  .  .  But  you 
are  hungry.  Come!" 

He  rose  slowly  and  crept  through  the  un- 
derground tunnel  leading  from  the  igloo.  The 
others  followed.  Without,  most  of  the  tribe 
were  waiting.  At  Ootah's  command  the  men 
unlashed  the  sledge-load  of  meat,  and  the  di- 
vision began.  To  Annadoah  Ootah  gave  one- 
eighth  of  the  load,  enough  to  last  by  frugal 
use  for  more  than  two  moons,  or  months. 
Among  the  others,  of  whom  there  were  about 
twenty-five,  the  remainder  was  proportion- 
ately divided.  For  himself  Ootah  reserved 
only  as  much  as  he  gave  the  others. 

Outside  Annadoah's  igloo  all  engaged  in  a 
joyous  revel.  Hungrily  they  feasted  upon 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  191' 

the  raw  meat.  Then  they  beat  drums  and 
danced.  Their  voices  rose  in  hilarious  chants. 
Wild  joy  shook  them.  Ootah  was  acclaimed 
hero  of  the  tribe.  Although  they  have  no 
chiefs,  he  was  accorded  the  honor  of  being  the 
bravest  and  strongest  among  them.  And  to 
the  strongest  and  most  heroic  the  last  word  in 
all  things  belongs. 

Of  all  who  were  able  to  participate  in  the 
celebration,  Maisanguaq  alone  retired.  From 
the  seclusion  of  his  igloo  entrance  he  watched 
the  scene  with  rancor  in  his  heart. 

Over  the  northern  skies  the  auroral  lights 
played,  lighting  the  scene  of  spontaneous  re- 
joicing with  magical  glory.  Great  silver  co- 
ronas— or  rings  of  light — constantly  arose  in 
the  north,  passed  to  the  zenith  and  melted  as 
they  descended  to  the  south.  Luminous  cur- 
tain-like films  closed  and  parted  alternately 
like  the  veils  of  a  Valhalla  drawn  back  and 
forth  before  the  warrior  souls  of  the  north. 
Tremendous  fan-shaped  shafts  of  opalescent 
fire  shot  toward  the  zenith  and  like  search- 


192  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

lights  moved  to  and  fro  across  the  sky.  The 
clouds  became  illumined  with  an  interior  flame 
and  glowed  like  diaphanous  mists  of  gold  half 
concealing  the  vague  faces  of  the  beauteous 
spirits  of  the  dead.  Their  billowing  edges  pal- 
pitated with  a  tremor  as  of  quicksilver. 
Within  and  through  this  empyreal  web  of 
light  marvellous  scenes  were  simultaneously 
woven.  They  lasted  a  moment's  space  and 
vanished.  The  natives,  dancing  unrestrained- 
ly, saw  heavenly  mountain  slopes  covered  with 
grass  of  emerald  fire  and  glittering  with 
starry  flowers.  They  saw  the  gigantic  shad- 
ows of  celestial  ahmingmah  passing  behind 
the  clouds  .  .  .  and  here  and  there  were  the 
Cyclopean  adumbrations  of  great  caribou, 
and  creatures  for  which  they  did  not  have  a 
name.  A  tossing  sea  of  rippling  waves  of 
light  was  presently  unfolded,  and  over  it  they 
saw  millions  of  birds,  with  wings  of  fire,  soar- 
ing with  bewildering  rapidity  from  horizon  to 
zenith  .  .  .  This  faded  .  .  .  Monstrous  and 
gorgeous  flowers  of  living  rainbow  tints  burst 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  193 

into  bloom — fields  of  them  momentarily  cov- 
ered the  heaven.  These  the  natives  regarded 
with  only  half  accustomed  wonder,  for  they 
knew  there  were  strange  flowers  in  the  land  of 
the  dead. 

As  they  danced,  the  colored  imageries  stead- 
ily faded  in  the  growing  intensity  of  the  great 
banded  coronas  that  rose  from  the  north.  A 
light  of  cold  electric  fire  increasingly  blazed 
over  the  heavens  until  a  frigid  silver  day, 
brighter  than  any  day  of  sunshine,  reached  its 
brief  noon  upon  the  earth. 

Rocking  their  bodies  and  singing,  the  na- 
tives dispersed  to  their  respective  igloos.  Sit- 
ting on  his  sledge  by  Annadoah,  Ootah  dimly 
heard  their  voices  echoing  into  silence ;  he  ex- 
perienced terrible  pains  again  in  his  limbs  and 
the  fever  in  his  head.  Everything  became 
dizzy,  and  with  a  sick  feeling  of  faintness  he 
crept  into  Annadoah's  igloo  and  fell  upon  her 
couch. 

It  was  in  his  heart  to  ask  her  once  again  to 
be  his,  to  repeat  the  protestation  of  his  love; 


194  THE  ETEENAL   MAIDEN 

he  felt  that  he  had  shown  he  deserved  to  win 
her.  But  his  utter  weakness,  and  the  very  en- 
thralling delight  of  her  soft  hands  on  his  fore- 
head, kept  him  still.  He  lay  in  a  semi-de- 
lirium suffering  greatly,  but  at  heart  very 
happy.  A  new  peace  possessed  him.  Never 
had  Annadoah  caressed  him  before,  never  had 
he  felt  the  tingling  thrill  of  her  tender  hands, 
never  had  her  breath  so  perilously  warmed  his 
face.  For  an  hour  she  sat  by  him,  perfunctor- 
ily bathing  his  wounds  with  the  white  men's 
ointment  and  rubbing  a  yellow  salve  upon  his 
face.  And  while  she  did  this,  often,  very 
often,  she  closed  her  eyes.  Sometimes  her 
hands,  as  they  passed  over  his  forehead,  ab- 
sently wandered  to  the  couch,  sometimes  they 
soothed  the  air  near  the  suffering  man.  Then 
she  would  recall  herself.  Gazing  upon  Ootah, 
pity  would  fill  her;  and  then — well,  then  her 
mind  would  wander.  She  was  faint  herself, 
tired  and  half-asleep. 

Once,  as  she  touched  Ootah's  hand,  he  closed 
it  impulsively  over  hers.     Her  heart  gave  a 


THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN  195 

thud.  Her  eyelids  quivered.  A  smile  ap- 
peared on  her  face.  Ootah  pressed  her  hand 
more  firmly — he  did  not  realize  how  fiercely 
in  his  fever.  His  blood  ran  high ;  in  a  mingled 
delirium  of  pain  and  transport  he  drew  her 
slowly  toward  him.  Her  one  hand  soothed  his 
brow,  softly,  very  gently.  The  smile  on  her 
face  deepened.  She  gasped  with  a  throe  of 
the  old  memories. 

"Olafaksoah,"  she  breathed,  rapturously. 

Ootah  felt  a  horrible  pain  grip  his  heart. 
He  opened  his  eyes,  stark  conscious.  He  saw 
the  eyes  of  Annadoah  were  closed.  On  her 
face  he  observed  the  fond,  far-away  smile;  he 
knew  her  heart  was  in  the  south.  And  in  that 
frightful  moment  his  untutored  mind  by  in- 
stinct realized  why  she  had  bandaged  and 
soothed  him  so  tenderly,  realized,  indeed,  that 
in  doing  so,  in  his  stead,  her  mind  had  con- 
jured up  the  vision  of  Olafaksoah.  His  hands 
were  strong,  she  had  said,  they  hurt  her. 
Ootah,  with  ferocity,  gripped  her  little  hand 
tighter. 


196  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

"Olafaksoah,"  she  murmured  again,  with 
delight — then,  recalling  herself,  suddenly  ut- 
tered a  sharp  cry  of  dismay  as  she  opened  her 
eyes. 

Ootah  staggered  to  his  feet.  The  utter 
tragedy  of  her  devotion  to  the  man  who  had 
deserted  her,  the  utter  hopelessness  of  his  own 
deep  passion  blightingly,  horribly  forced  itself 
upon  him. 

"Annadoah!  Annadoah!  Annadoah!"  he 
wailed,  his  voice  sobbing  the  beloved  name. 

The  igloo  was  stifling;  he  felt  that  he  was 
suffocating.  Everything  reeling  about  him, 
he  crept  painfully  from  the  igloo  into  the 
night.  He  felt  he  must  be  alone. 

Outside  the  aurora  was  paling  with  inter- 
mittent cascades  of  resolving  lights.  Over  the 
snows  glittering  rosy  fingers  painted  running 
rainbow  traceries.  It  seemed  as  though  the 
spirit  revellers  were  pouring  fiery  jewels  from 
the  skies. 

Ootah  stood  before  that  revealed  and  radi- 
ant land  of  the  dead — the  dead  who  danced 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  197 

and  were  happy — his  hands  clenched  and  up- 
raised above  him. 

"Annadoah!  Annadoah!"  he  sobbed  the 
name  again  and  again,  and  in  his  voice 
throbbed  all  the  piteousness,  all  the  bitterness 
of  his  utter  heartbreak.  There  was  no  re- 
proach in  his  shuddering  sobs;  only  sorrow, 
only  the  desolation  and  eternal  heart-ache  of 
that  which  loves  mightily,  unrequitedly,  and 
realizes  that  all  it  desires  can  never,  never  be. 

Ootah  asked  himself  all  the  questions  men 
ask  in  such  a  crisis ;  why,  when  he  loved  so  in- 
domitably, the  heart  of  Annadoah  should  stir 
only  with  the  thought  of  another;  why  the 
spirits  that  weave  the  fabric  of  men's  fate  had 
designed  it  thus.  Why  the  ultimate  desire  of 
the  heart  is  forever  ungranted  and  an  intrin- 
sically unselfish  love  too  often  finds  itself  de- 
feated— these  questions,  in  his  way,  he  asked 
of  his  soul,  and  he  demanded,  with  wild  weep- 
ing, their  answer  from  the  dead  rejoicing  in 
the  paling  Valhalla.  But  there  was  no  an- 
swer— as  perhaps  there  may  be  no  answer;  or, 


198  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

if  there  is,  that  God,  fearing  lest  in  attaining 
the  Great  Desire  men  should  cease  to  en- 
deavor, to  serve  and  to  labor,  has  kept  it  locked 
where  He  and  the  dead  live  beyond  the  skies. 
Ootah  fell  prostrate  to  the  ground  and  his 
body  throbbed  on  the  ice  in  uncontrollable 
throes  of  grief.  The  aurora  faded  above  him. 
Darkness  closed  upon  the  earth.  Sitting  in 
her  igloo,  startled,  vaguely  perplexed  and 
half-afraid,  Annadoah  heard  him  sobbing 
throughout  the  night. 


VIII 

"For  a  long  black  hour  of  horror  they  were 
driven  over  the  thundering  seas  and  through 
a  frigid  whirlwind  of  snow  sharp  as  flakes  of 
steel  .  .  . 

"Seeing  Ootah  turn  slightly  toward  Anna- 
doah}  Maisanguaq  sprang  at  his  throat.  Their 
arms  closed  about  one  another  .  .  .  The  floe 
rocked  beneath  them  —  they  slipped  to  and  fro 
on  the  ice  .  .  .  About  them  the  frightful 
darkness  roared;  they  felt  the  heaving  sea 
under  them.  And  while  they  struggled  in 
their  brief  death-to-death  fight,  the  floe  was 
tossed  steadily  onward." 


long  night  began   to   lift  its  sable 
X       pall,  and  at  midday,  for  a  brief  period, 
a  pale  glow  appeared  above  the  eastern  hori- 
zon.    In  this  brief  spell  of  daily  increasing 
twilight  the  desolate  region  took  on  a  grey- 

199 


200  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

blue  hue ;  the  natives,  as  they  appeared  outside 
their  shelters,  looked  like  greyish  spectres. 
Ootah  felt  the  grim  grey  desolation  color  his 
soul. 

He  had  regained  his  strength,  and  his 
wounds  had  healed  with  the  remarkable  rapid- 
ity that  nature  effects  in  people  who  lead  a 
primitive  life;  only  the  hurt  in  his  heart  re- 
mained. Annadoah  had  often  visited  him,  and 
while  he  lay  on  his  bed  of  furs  she  had  boiled 
ahmingmah  meat  and  made  hot  water  over  the 
lamp  very  solicitously.  Once,  half-hesitating, 
she  looked  into  his  eyes,  and  as  though  she  had 
a  confession  to  make,  said  quietly: 

"Thou  art  very  brave,  Ootah." 

This  pleased  him — once  she  had  said  he  had 
the  heart  of  a  woman. 

He  had  thrilled  when  she  soothed  him,  and 
now  he  was  half  sorry  that  the  injuries  no 
longer  needed  attention.  He  loved  Annadoah 
more  deeply  than  ever,  and  his  greatest  con- 
cern was  for  her.  He  might  win  her — yes, 
perhaps  some  day,  but  he  could  not  forget 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  201 

that,  whenever  she  had  touched  him  with  ten- 
derness, she  thought  of  Olafaksoah. 

Standing  before  his  igloo,  musing  upon 
these  things,  Ootah  espied  in  the  semi-light  a 
dark  speck  moving  on  the  ice. 

"Nannook!  (Bear)"  he  called,  and  the  men 
rushed  from  their  houses.  Without  pausing 
to  get  his  gun  Ootah  ran  down  to  the  ice- 
sheeted  shore.  Nature,  as  if  repenting  of  her 
bitterness,  had  sent  milder  weather,  and  the 
bear,  emerging  from  its  winter  retreat,  made 
its  way  over  the  ice  in  search  of  seal.  Lifting 
his  harpoon,  Ootah  attacked  the  bear.  It  rose 
on  its  haunches  and  parried  the  thrusts.  A 
half-dozen  lean  dogs  came  dashing  from  the 
shelters  and  jumped  about  the  creature.  The 
bear  grunted  viciously — the  dogs  howled.  The 
bear  was  lean  and  faint  from  hunger,  and  its 
fight  was  brief — the  lances  of  four  natives 
pierced  the  gaunt  body.  The  bear  meat  was 
divided  after  the  communal  custom  of  the 
tribe,  and  the  gnawing  of  their  stomachs  was 
again  somewhat  appeased.  Some  days  later 


202  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

three  bears  were  killed  near  the  village.  The 
hearts  of  the  tribe  arose,  for  spring  was  surely 
dawning. 

Early  in  March  Arnaluk,  skirmishing  along 
the  shore,  saw  a  bear  disappearing  in  the  dis- 
tance. The  animal  was  making  its  direction 
seaward,  and  this  indicated  to  the  astute  na- 
tive that  its  quick  senses  had  detected  the 
presence  of  seal. 

"Ootah!  Ootah!"  he  called.  "Attalaq! 
Attalaq!"  The  two  tribesmen  responded. 
With  harpoons  and  lances  they  followed  the 
trail  of  the  bear.  Less  than  a  mile  from  shore 
they  found  it  sitting  near  a  seal  blow  hole  in 
the  ice.  At  the  sight  of  the  men  it  fled.  A 
close  inspection  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  a 
half  dozen  blow  holes — or  open  places  to 
which  the  seal  rise  under  the  ice  and  come  to 
the  surface  to  breathe.  For  a  long  while  the 
men  waited.  Standing  near  the  holes,  their 
weapons  ready  to  strike,  they  imitated  the  call 
of  seals.  Finally  there  was  a  snorting  noise 
beneath  one  of  the  holes.  Ootah  detected  a 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  203 

slight  rise  of  vapor.  Attalaq's  harpoon  de- 
scended. A  joyous  cry  arose.  Breaking  open 
the  ice  about  the  hole  a  seal  was  drawn  to  the 
surface.  Daily  visits  were  thereafter  made  to 
the  vicinity  and  the  hunters,  patiently  watch- 
ing near  the  holes,  succeeded  in  catching  sev- 
eral seals.  Other  blow  holes  were  later  de- 
tected along  the  ice,  then  they  disappeared  and 
for  a  period  no  seal  rewarded  the  hunters. 

The  weather  continued  to  moderate,  and 
these  excursions  on  the  sea  ice  became  more 
and  more  dangerous.  One  day  Attalaq  and 
Ootah,  while  walking  along  the  shore,  heard  a 
familiar  call  in  the  far  distance,  out  toward 
the  open  sea. 

"Walrus,"  said  Ootah,  the  zest  of  the  hunt 
tingling  in  his  veins. 

"But  the  danger  is  great — the  ice  splits," 
said  Attalaq. 

"But  we  need  food."  Ootah  thought  of 
Annadoah.  She  had  not  been  well,  she  needed 
food — that  was  sufficient.  Moreover,  he 
thought  of  the  children;  three  were  dying  of 


204  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

lack  of  food.  So  he  called  the  tribesmen  and 
gave  the  signal  for  preparations  to  depart.  A 
selection  had  to  be  made  of  the  best  dogs  for 
the  dangerous  trip.  Few  dogs  remained  in 
the  village;  many  had  been  frozen  by  the  bit- 
ter cold;  others  had  to  be  killed  as  food  for 
their  companions;  some  had  occasionally  been 
devoured  by  the  famished  natives.  And  this 
the  desperate  people  had  done  with  reluctance 
and  great  sorrow — for,  as  I  have  said,  a  native 
loves  his  dog  but  little  less  than  his  child. 

Ootah  in  the  lead,  with  five  others,  started 
on  the  hunt,  with  three  sledges,  each  of  which 
was  drawn  by  a  team  of  five  lean,  hungry 
dogs.  After  some  urging  Maisanguaq  had 
sullenly  consented  to  accompany  the  party. 

Joy  flushed  the  natives'  skin,  for  a  thin  film 
'of  sunlight  trembled  low  over  the  eastern  hori- 
zon. As  they  sped  northward  past  great 
promontories  they  saw  several  auks.  Later 
two  ptarmigan  were  spotted,  and  still  later  an 
eider  duck.  They  began  chanting  songs  of 
the  race. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  205 

Quickly,  however,  the  brief  sunlight  faded, 
heavy  grey  clouds  piled  along  the  sky-line,  the 
atmosphere  became  perceptibly  warmer,  and 
intermittent  gusts  of  wind  blew  downward 
from  the  inland  mountains. 

They  directed  their  steps  over  the  ice  to  a 
distant  black  spot,  somewhat  more  than  a  mile 
distant,  which  they  knew  to  be  open  water. 
There,  if  there  were  any,  the  walrus  would  be 
found.  As  they  were  marching,  a  very  faint 
crackling  noise  vibrated  through  the  ice  under 
their  feet.  They  ceased  singing.  Four  of  the 
party  paused  and  would  have  turned  back. 
Ootah  urged  them  onward.  They  paced  off 
half  a  mile.  The  wind  increased  in  volume 
and  whined  dolefully.  Their  steps  lagged. 
Suddenly  they  heard  the  harsh  nasal  bellow 
they  knew  so  well.  The  hearts  of  all  expanded 
with  the  joy  of  the  hunt. 

The  dogs  howled  hungrily  and,  with  tails 
swishing  savagely,  tore  ahead.  As  they  ap- 
proached the  edge  of  the  sea  ice  they  passed 
great  lakes  of  open  water.  The  twilight  still 


206  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

continued  to  thicken,  the  wind  came  in  in- 
creasingly furious  blasts.  Nearer  and  nearer 
came  the  low  call  of  walrus  bulls. 

In  a  lake  of  lapping  black  water,  about  five 
hundred  feet  from  the  open  sea,  a  small  herd 
rose  to  the  surface  intermittently  for  breath. 
In  the  deep  gloom  the  hunters  saw  fountains 
of  spray  ascending  as  they  breathed.  Hitch- 
ing their  dogs  to  harpoon  stakes  driven  in  the 
ice,  they  separated  and  quietly  took  positions 
about  the  open  water. 

"Wu-r-r!"  The  low  walrus  call  rose  over 
the  ice.  Ootah  leaned  over  the  edge  of  the 
ice  and  imitated  the  animal  cry.  "Woor-r," 
Maisanguaq,  near  him,  replied.  The  water 
seethed,  and  two  glistening  white  tusks  ap- 
peared. Ootah  raised  his  harpoon — it  hissing- 
ly  cut  the  air.  A  terrific  bellow  followed.  The 
little  lake  seethed.  A  dozen  fiery  eyes,  of  a 
phosphorescent  green,  appeared  above  the 
water.  Maisanguaq  struck,  so  did  Arnaluk. 
They  let  out  their  harpoon  lines — the  savage 
beasts  dove  downward,  then  rose  for  breath. 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  207 

In  their  frantic  struggle  their  heads  beat 
against  the  ice  about  the  edge  of  the  space  of 
open  water.  The  natives  fled  backward — the 
ice  broke  into  thousands  of  fragments.  Each 
time  the  animals  came  up  the  hunters  deliv- 
ered more  harpoons  so  as  to  pinion  securely 
and  at  the  same  time  despatch  the  prey.  In 
the  gathering  gloom  they  had  to  aim  by  in- 
stinct. For  an  hour  the  struggle  between  the 
alert  men  and  the  enraged  beasts  continued. 
Several  times  Ootah  and  Arnaluk  fired  their 
guns  as  the  green  eyes  appeared  so  as  to  finish 
the  task  of  killing. 

Meanwhile  the  grey  reflection  of  the  de- 
scending sun  entirely  faded  along  the  horizon ; 
a  bluish  gloom  blotted  out  the  landscape. 
The  wind  swept  over  the  ice  with  fiendish 
hisses.  With  a  quick  change  the  air  became 
colder  and  snow  flakes  fell.  The  natives  be- 
came alarmed.  As  they  were  drawing  the  first 
walrus  to  the  ice  a  sound,  like  the  discharge  of 
a  gun  beneath  the  sea,  startled  them.  Seizing 
their  knives  they  dexterously  fell  upon  the 


208  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

animal  and  lifted  the  meat  and  blubber  in  long 
slices  from  the  bones.  A  great  quantity  was 
cast  to  the  ravenous  dogs.  Two  more  walrus 
were  lumberingly  drawn  to  the  ice;  the  first 
sledge  load  and  two  hunters  started  shore- 
ward; soon  the  second  sledge  was  loaded. 
Ootah  and  Maisanguaq  remained  to  dress  the 
third  beast. 

Like  scorpions  in  the  hands  of  the  mighty 
tornarssuit  the  wind  now  steadily  beat  upon 
the  ice.  The  two  men  were  almost  lifted  from 
their  feet.  Not  far  away  they  heard  the  tu- 
multuous crash  of  the  rising  waves.  As  they 
were  lashing  the  blubber  to  Ootah's  sledge,  a 
resounding  detonation  vibrated  through  the 
ice  under  him — the  field  on  which  they  stood 
slowly  but  unmistakably  began  to  move! 

Maisanguaq  spoke.  The  wind  drowned  his 
voice.  Above  its  clamor  they  heard  the  ice 
separating  with  the  splitting  sound  of  artil- 
lery. Whipped  by  the  terrific  gale  the  snow 
cut  their  faces  like  bits  of  steel.  In  the  dark- 
ness, which  steadily  thickened,  they  heard  the 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  209 

appalling  boom  of  bergs  and  the  grind  of  floes 
colliding  on  the  sea. 

Ootah  leaped  to  the  team  of  dogs  and  in- 
terrupted their  feast.  He  knew  they  had  not 
a  single  moment  to  lose — the  field  had  surely 
parted  from  the  land  ice  and  it  was  now  a 
dreadful  question  as  to  whether  a  return  was 
possible.  As  he  was  hitching  the  dogs  to  the 
loaded  sledge  he  suddenly  gave  a  start.  Was 
he  dreaming?  Was  he  hearing  the  disem- 
bodied speak,  as  men  did  in  dreams?  He 
listened  intently — surely  he  heard  a  soft  sweet 
voice  calling  piteously  through  the  wind.  His 
heart  gave  a  great  thud. 

Through  the  gathering  gloom  he  saw  some- 
thing ...  a  blur  of  blackness  .  .  .  gather- 
ing substance  as  it  approached  over  the  ice. 
It  moved  uncertainly  .  .  .  and  seemed  to  be 
driven  toward  him  by  the  furious  wind. 

"Look — who  is  it?"  he  called  to  Maisan- 
guaq. 

For  answer,  through  the  din  of  the  elements, 
a  voice  called  brokenly,  sobbingly: 


210  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

"Ootah!  .   .   .   Ootah!" 

Ootah  leaped  to  his  feet.  Out  of  the  snow- 
driven  blackness  a  frail  figure  staggered 
toward  him. 

"Annadoah,"  Ootah  murmured,  seizing  the 
trembling  woman  in  his  arms.  She  seemed 
about  to  faint. 

"Why  hast  thou  come  hither?"  He  hugged 
her  fiercely  to  his  bosom.  He  felt  a  throb  of 
ecstatic  delight ;  for  the  first  time  she  had  sur- 
rendered to  his  arms ;  for  the  first  time  he  held 
her  close  to  him ;  death — for  the  moment — lost 
its  terrors — he  felt  that  he  would  be  willing  to 
die,  in  that  storming  darkness,  with  her  heart 
beating,  so  that  he  felt  its  every  pulse,  close, 
close  to  his. 

The  wild  winds  almost  drowned  Anna- 
doah's  words. 

"The  women  came  to  me,"  she  panted  with 
difficulty,  and  Ootah  had  to  bend  his  ear  to 
her  mouth  so  as  to  hear.  "They  were  angry. 
They  said  'She  stealeth  souls!  Annadoah 
stealeth  souls!'  They  said,  'Annadoah  hath 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  211 

caused  the  death  of  many  children!'  Ootah! 
Ootah !  They  came,  as  they  do  when  thou  art 
absent.  They  threatened  me — they  called 
upon  the  spirits,  as  they  once  called  to  them 
beneath  the  sea.  And  the  curse  of  the  long 
night — of  darkness — hunger — death  .  .  . 
they  invoked  ...  of  the  dead  .  .  .  upon 
me  ...  I  was  afraid."  Ootah  felt  her  shud- 
dering in  his  arms.  "The  women  came  unto 
my  igloo,"  she  repeated  wildly — "they  desired 
that  ravens  peck  my  eyes — that  I  rest  without 
a  grave — that  my  body  lie  unburied  and  that 
my  spirit  never  rest.  And  the  curse  of  dark- 
ness— io-o-h-h! — they  called  the  curse  of  dark- 
ness upon  me.  They  trampled  upon  me  with 
their  feet,  and  they  tore  at  my  hair  .  .  .  They 
came  unto  my  igloo  as  the  storm  came  and 
called  upon  the  spirits  of  the  skins  to  strike 
me;  for  they  said  I  had  again  driven  thee  to 
thy  death,  that  I  had  sent  the  others  to  their 
death.  Thou  knowest  I  lay  ill  when  thou  didst 
depart.  But  they  fell  on  me  one  by  one  and 
hurt  me — I  feared  they  would  kill  me.  They 


212  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

were  angry  and  they  called  upon  the  dead. 
The  storm  strikes ;  the  spirits  of  the  winds  are 
angry;  the  ice  breaks,  and  it  is  the  fault  of 
Annadoah.  So  they  said." 

Her  eyes  were  wild,  her  hair  dishevelled. 
Ootah  felt  her  forehead — it  burned  with  fever. 

"How  didst  thou  come  hither — and  why?" 
he  asked,  his  heart  bounding  in  the  thought 
that  she  had  followed  him,  that  of  him  she 
sought  protection. 

"I  know  not — methinks  I  called  upon  the 
spirits.  I  knew  thou  didst  come  this  way — I 
knew  thou  wouldst  save  me  from  the  women. 
And  I  followed.  The  way  was  dark.  The 
wind  held  me  back.  But  I  knew  thou  wert 
here— my  heart  led  me;  my  heart  found  thee 
as  birds  find  grass  in  the  mountains.  Ootah! 
Ootah!  I  fear  I  shall  die!"  She  collapsed  in 
his  arms.  The  wind  shrieked.  In  the  distance 
two  icebergs  exploded — there  was  a  flash  of 
phosphorus  on  the  sea  as  the  arctic  dinosaurs 
collided. 

"Come!  Or  we  perish  in  the  sea!"  Maisan- 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  213 

giiaq,  his  head  bent  near  so  as  to  hear,  now 
yelled  into  Ootah's  ear. 

Annadoah  cowered  at  the  sound  of  his  voice. 
Ootah  felt  her  trembling,  in  his  arms. 
.     "And  he  ...  is  here?"  she  whispered.    "I 
am  afraid." 

They  felt  the  great  ice  field  rocking  on  the 
waves  imprisoned  beneath  them.  It  trembled 
whenever  it  touched  a  passing  berg. 

Maisanguaq  prodded  the  terror-stricken 
dogs.  Their  howls  shrilled  through  the  storm. 

"Huk!  Huk!  Huk!"  he  urged. 

Supporting  Annadoah  with  one  arm  Ootah 
pushed  forward  after  the  moving  team.  He 
knew  they  were  being  carried  steadily  and 
slowly  seaward,  but  he  had  hopes  that  the  ice 
field  would  swerve  landward  toward  the  south 
where  an  armlike  glacier  jutted,  elbow-fash- 
ion, into  the  sea  and  caught  the  current. 

Snapping  their  whips  and  frantically  urg- 
ing the  dogs,  they  fought  through  the  snow- 
driven  darkness  and  over  the  moving  field  of 
ice.  Annadoah  murmured  wild  and  incoherent 


214  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

things  in  her  delirium.  They  paced  off  half  a 
mile. 

" Aulatel"  Ootah  suddenly  called,  panic- 
stricken.  "Halt!  halt!"  Maisanguaq  stopped 
the  dogs.  Before  them  a  snaky  space  of 
water,  blacker  than  the  darkness  about  them, 
and  capped  with  faintly  phosphorescent  crests 
of  tossing  waves,  separated  them — Ootah 
knew  not  how  far — from  the  land. 

"To  the  right!"  Ootah  called.  "Let  us  go 
onward!" 

"Huk!  Huk!"  Maisanguaq  encouraged 
the  dogs. 

"The  floe  may  land  near  the  glacier,"  Ootah 
cried. 

He  spoke  to  Annadoah.  She  made  an  ir- 
relevant reply  about  the  women  who  called 
upon  the  spirits — and  their  terrible  maledic- 
tions. 

With  Maisanguaq  ahead  driving  the  dogs, 
they  turned  to  the  south.  Annadoah  sank 
helpless  in  Ootah's  arms — she  could  no  longer 
walk.  Ootah  supported  her.  At  times  his 


THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN  215 

feet  slipped.  He  felt  himself  becoming  dizzy. 
The  beloved  burden  in  his  arms  became  un- 
supportably  heavy.  They  travelled  in  utter 
darkness,  near  them  the  desirous  clamor  of  the 
waves.  Seaward,  at  times,  where  the  splitting 
floes  crashed  against  one  another,  there  ran 
zigzag  lines  of  phosphorescence.  The  winds 
howled  in  the  ears  of  Ootah  like  the  voices  of 
the  unhappy  dead.  Occasionally  he  heard  the 
voice  of  Maisanguaq  ahead  urging  the  team. 

Ice  froze  on  their  faces,  frigid  water  swept 
the  floe.  Their  garments  became  saturated 
and  froze  to  the  skin.  Finally  the  dogs  re- 
fused to  move.  "We  can  go  no  further,"  said 
Maisanguaq,  in  terror.  "I  am  resigned  to 
die."  Ootah  stubbornly  invoked  the  spirits  of 
his  ancestors  for  succor.  He  called  to  the 
dogs. 

Thereupon  a  terrific  shock  caused  both  men 
to  reel.  The  ice  field  trembled  under  them — 
then  stopped. 

Ootah  realized  that  a  section  of  it  had  swept 
against  one  of  the  many  land-adhering  gla- 


216  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

ciers.     There  was  hope — and  greater  danger. 

With  a  rumbling  crash  that  reverberated 
above  the  storm  the  field  separated  into  count- 
less tossing  fragments.  The  cake  on  which 
the  terror-stricken  party  cowered  swirled  diz- 
zily in  an  eddy  of  the  released  foaming  waters. 
On  all  sides  the  inky  waves  seethed  up  among 
the  crevices  of  the  sundering  floes.  To  the 
south  Ootah  heard  the  breakers  booming 
against  the  ice  cliffs,  which  perilously  barred 
the  currents  of  the  angry  sea.  The  caps  of  the 
curling  waves  took  on  a  pale  white  and  appal- 
ling luminesence. 

"The  faces  of  the  dead!"  cried  Maisanguaq 
in  superstitious  terror.  "From  the  bosom  of 
Nerrvik  they  come  to  greet  us." 

Ootah,  however,  felt  no  fear.  For  once  he 
felt  unheedful  of  those  in  the  other  world.  His 
mind  was  occupied  with  a  more  immediate  in- 
terest— that  of  saving  the  life  of  the  woman 
he  loved. 

With  quick  presence  of  mind,  Ootah 
grasped  the  rear  upstander  of  the  sled,  which 


THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN  217 

had  begun  to  slide  to  and  fro,  and  planted  his 
harpoon  in  the  ice. 

"Thy  axe!"  he  shouted.  Maisanguaq 
passed  the  axe.  Ootah  grappled  for  it  in  the 
darkness.  "Hold  the  harpoon,"  he  directed. 
Mechanically  Maisanguaq  groped  for  the  har- 
poon and  held  it  while  Ootah,  with  his  one  free 
hand,  lifted  the  axe  and  drove  it  into  the  ice. 
With  the  other  hand  he  still  gripped  the  un- 
conscious woman.  Her  hair  swished  about  his 
legs  in  the  howling  wind.  Maisanguaq  plant- 
ed his  own  weapon  in  the  ice  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  sledge,  and  Ootah,  with  unerring 
strokes,  hardly  able  to  see  it  in  the  darkness, 
pounded  it  firmly  into  the  ice. 

"Thy  lashings,"  he  called.  Maisanguaq 
passed  a  coil  of  skin  rope. 

About  the  improvised  stakes  which  secured 
the  sled  Ootah  whipped  the  lashings,  then  he 
passed  them  under  and  over  the  sled  until  it 
was  securely  pinioned.  Very  gently  he  placed 
Annadoah  upon  the  mass  of  walrus  meat  and 
lashed  her  body  in  turn  to  the  sled  and  about 
the  stakes.  With  Maisanguaq's  assistance  he 


218  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

tied  the  cowering  dogs  to  the  harpoons.  This 
done,  the  two  men,  benumbed  and  dazed, 
clung  to  the  anchor  for  support. 

As  the  severed  ice  cakes  dispersed,  a  curling 
wave  lifted  the  floe  on  which  they  clung  high 
on  its  crest  and  tossed  it  southward.  As  it 
rose  on  the  surging  breakers  Ootah  felt  the 
dread  presence  of  Perdlugssuaq  ready  to 
strike.  Each  time  they  made  swift,  sickening 
descents  in  the  seething  troughs  he  felt  all  con- 
sciousness pass  away.  On  all  sides  the  waves 
hissed.  Torrents  of  water  swept  over  the  floe. 
Ootah  felt  his  limbs  freezing;  he  felt  his  arms 
becoming  numb.  He  feared  that  at  any  mo- 
ment he  should  lose  his  grip  and  be  swept  into 
the  raging  sea.  Then  he  thought  of  Annadoah 
and  conjured  new  courage.  For  a  while  the 
dogs  whined — then  they  became  silent.  One 
already  was  drowned.  Ootah  bent  over  Anna- 
doah to  protect  her  from  the  mountainous  on- 
slaughts of  icy  water.  His  teeth  chattered — 
he  suffered  agonies.  For  a  long  black  hour  of 
horror  they  were  driven  over  the  thundering 


THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN  219 

seas  and  through  a  frigid  whirlwind  of  snow, 
sharp  as  flakes  of  steel. 

The  recoiling  impetus  of  the  waters  grad- 
ually increased  under  them.  Ootah  knew  this 
indicated  an  approach  to  land.  The  waves 
came  in  shorter,  but  quicker  swells.  The  floe 
bumped  into  others.  Ootah  roused  himself 
and  hopefully  turned  toward  Maisanguaq. 

"We  approach  the  land,"  he  called.  "We 
must  bide  our  time — then  jump." 

The  waves  washed  the  floe  toward  the  dis- 
tant shore.  Land  ice  steadily  thickened  about 
them.  Maisanguaq  realized  that  they  were 
actually  being  carried  to  the  sheltering  harbor 
of  the  arm-like  glacier  south  of  the  village. 
Ootah  quickly  began  unlashing  Annadoah  so 
as  to  be  prepared  to  seize  her  and  spring,  when 
the  opportunity  came,  from  cake  to  cake,  to 
safety. 

Impelled  by  a  warning  instinct,  Ootah  sud- 
denly looked  up  from  his  task,  and  felt  rather 
than  saw  Maisanguaq  near  and  about  to  leap 


220  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

upon  him.  Maisanguaq's  eyes  dimly  glowered 
in  the  dark.  Ootah  rose  quickly.  Maisanguaq 
drew  back  and  uttered  an  exclamation  of  cha- 
grin. Ootah  understood.  With  rescue  pos- 
sible, Maisanguaq  had  quickly  come  to  a  des- 
perate resolution. 

The  girl  lay  between  them. 

Ootah  braced  himself. 

"I  hate  thee,  Ootah,"  Maisanguaq  shouted, 
no  longer  able  to  suppress  the  baffled  jealousy 
and  seething  envy  endured  quietly  for  many 
seasons.  He  moved  about,  parleying  for  time 
and  a  chance  to  spring  upon  Ootah  when  he 
was  unguarded. 

"I  hate  thee  not,  Maisanguaq,"  Ootah  re- 
plied. 

He  steeled  himself,  for  he  knew  Maisan- 
guaq was  strong,  he  knew  the  ice  was  treach- 
erous ;  he  waited  for  the  man  to  strike. 

"My  heart  warms  for  Annadoah;  so  doth 
thine:  therefore,  thou  or  I  must  die."  Maisan- 
guaq's deep  voice  sounded  hoarse  through  the 
storm. 


THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN  221 

"As  thou  sayest,"  Ootah  replied,  "but 
why?" 

"Annadoah  must  be  thine  or  mine;  dead, 
she  cannot  choose  thee,  and  with  thee  dead, 
my  strength  shall  cow  her.  As  men  did  of 
old  I  shall  carry  her  away  by  force.  She  shall 
be  mine." 

"Annadoah  hath  already  chosen — her  heart 
is  in  the  south,"  Ootah  replied,  sadly. 

"Fool!"  the  other  man  shrieked.  "Didst 
thou  not  go  to  the  mountains  to  get  her  food; 
didst  thou  not  thieve  from  thine  own  self  to 
give  oil  to  her;  didst  thou  not  fawn  upon  her 
and  perform  the  services  of  a  woman?  Thou 
liest  if  thou  sayest  thou  wilt  not  have  her  for 
thy  wife.  No  man  doeth  this  unseeking  of 
reward." 

"I  love  Annadoah,"  Ootah  said,  bitterly. 

"Yea,  and  thou  hast  hope." 

"Perchance — perchance  I  have  hope." 

"And  Annadoah  looks  with  favor  upon 
thee — I  have  seen  it  in  her  eyes.  Did  she  not 
greet  thee  as  women  greet  their  lovers  when 


222  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

thou  earnest  from  the  mountains,  and  did  she 
not  bind  thy  wounds  with  strange  ointment?" 

"She  thought  of  another — her  heart  was  in 
the  south." 

"Hath  she  not  sought  thee  hither — upon  the 
ice — when  the  women  fell  upon  her  with  their 
curses?  Her  heart  wings  to  thee,  did  she  not 
say,  as  birds  to  green  grasses  in  the  moun- 
tains?" 

"Her  heart  is  in  the  south,"  Ootah  sadly 
moaned. 

"The  heart  of  woman  changes  always," 
cried  Maisanguaq.  "The  heart  of  woman  al- 
ways yields  to  force.  Pst!" 

Seeing  Ootah  turn  slightly  toward  Anna- 
doah,  Maisanguaq  sprang  at  his  throat.  Their 
arms  closed  about  one  another.  Maisanguaq 
breathed  the  wrath  of  the  spirits  upon  Ootah. 
He  fought  with  the  fierce  strength  of  one  in- 
sane with  jealous,  murderous  rage.  The  icy 
floe  rocked  beneath  them.  They  slipped  to 
and  fro  on  the  treacherous  ice.  The  sharp 
snow  beat  their  faces.  Water  washed  under 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  223 

their  feet.  At  times  they  reached,  in  their 
frightful  struggle,  the  very  edge  of  the  floe, 
and  seemed  about  to  tumble  into  the  seething 
sea.  Ootah  felt  Maisanguaq  trying  to  force 
him  into  the  watery  abyss — but  he  fought 
backward  .  .  .  time  and  time  again  .  .  . 
They  constantly  fell  over  the  unconscious 
woman  on  the  sledge.  About  them  the  dark- 
ness roared;  they  felt  the  heaving  sea  beneath 
them.  And  while  they  struggled,  in  their  brief 
terrible  death-to-the-death  fight,  the  floe  was 
tossed  steadily  onward.  Ootah  felt  his  breath 
giving  out.  Maisanguaq  felt  Ootah's  hands 
closing  about  his  throat.  He  felt  the  blood 
pound  in  his  temples.  Desperation  filled 
him — he  determined  to  kill  Ootah  by  any 
means.  A  grim  suggestion  came  to  him.  He 
endeavored  to  release  himself. 

In  a  lull  of  the  wind  both  heard  something 
that  made  them  start.  Aroused  from  her 
feverish  coma  by  the  two  men  falling  against 
her,  Annadoah  suddenly  cried  aloud.  The  two 
men  stood  stone-still,  locked  in  a  deadly  grip. 


224  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

At  that  moment  Annadoah  felt  the  warmth 
of  their  panting  breath  as  they  paused  near 
her.  Where  she  was  at  first  she  did  not  real- 
ize. She  heard  a  clamor  of  wind  and  breaking 
waters.  She  imagined  herself  being  tossed 
through  the  air  in  the  arms  of  the  tornarssuit. 
At  the  same  time  she  became  vividly  aware  of 
the  desperate  struggle  nearby.  Subconscious- 
ly she  realized  Maisanguaq  and  Ootah  were 
engaged  in  a  fight  to  the  death.  In  the  dark- 
ness she  sensed  them  moving  away  from  her. 
Straining  her  eyes  she  began,  very  dimly — as 
Eskimos  can  even  in  pitch  darkness — to  descry 
the  black  outlines  of  the  two  men  wrestling  as 
they  shifted  nearer  and  nearer  the  edge  of  the 
ice.  Then  it  dawned  upon  Annadoah's  mind 
that  they  were  being  carried,  in  the  jeopardy 
of  an  awful  storm,  on  a  floe  that  was  tossed 
hither  and  thither  in  a  maelstrom  of  angry 
waters.  A  frantic  desire  to  save  Ootah  surged 
up  within  her.  Behind  him  she  saw  the  swim- 
ming blackness  of  the  heaving  wraves.  She  at- 
tempted to  rise.  Her  head  swam;  there  was 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  225 

loud  ringing  in  her  ears.  Her  hands  were  not 
free,  her  ankles  were  bound — she  struggled  to 
release  herself.  Twisting  her  wrists  and 
ankles  in  the  tight  lashings  until  they  bled,  it 
suddenly  flashed  upon  her  that  she  was  lashed 
to  the  sled.  She  knew  that  at  any  moment  the 
floe  might  crash  into  a  glacier  and  be  crushed 
to  atoms.  She  knew  that  Maisanguaq  and 
Ootah  were  fighting  for  the  possession  of  her 
— that  both  might  perish,  or,  what  was  worse, 
that  Maisanguaq  might  win.  Chaotic  terror 
filled  her.  Struggling  frantically  but  ineffec- 
tually, she  uttered  a  maniacal  scream. 

"Ootah!  Ootah!" 

Ootah  did  not  reply. 

The  storm  howled.  The  wind  lashed  the 
floe — it  fell  like  a  whip  on  her  face.  Anna- 
doah  felt  the  surging  impetus  of  the  angry  sea 
under  them.  She  felt  herself  rising  on  the 
crests  of  mighty  waves  and  being  swiftly 
hurled  into  foaming  troughs  of  water.  Frigid 
spray  bathed  her  face.  Still  the  two  vague 
shadows,  darker  than  the  night,  slowly  and 


226  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

laboriously  moved  about  her.  At  times  they 
brushed  her  lashed  body — then  she  felt  the 
quick  gasps  of  their  breath;  she  sensed  the 
strain  of  Ootah's  limbs  twisting  in  the  strug- 
gle. 

Again  she  perceived  the  two  shifting  away 
and  being  merged  into  the  swimming  black- 
ness. Presently  she  saw  only  the  phosphores- 
cent crest  of  a  mountainous  wave  .  .  .  rising 
in  the  distance  .  .  .  She  became  cold  with 
white  fear — she  felt  her  blood  turn  to  ice  ... 
She  screamed  and  struggled  vainly  with  the 
lashings  .  .  .  She  felt  the  floe  rise,  felt  her- 
self being  steadily  lifted  into  the  sheer  air,  and 
of  paralyzed  fright  again  swooned. 

Maisanguaq,  by  a  fierce  wrench,  managed 
to  release  one  hand,  struck  Ootah  a  heavy  blow 
and  broke  away.  Leaping  to  the  opposite  side 
of  the  sledge,  with  a  terrific  pull,  he  drew  one 
of  the  harpoons  out  of  the  ice  and  with  his 
knife  speedily  cut  it  loose  from  the  lashings. 
Ootah,  stunned  for  a  moment,  turned  upon 
him.  Maisanguaq  desperately  raised  the 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  227 

weapon.  Ootah  heard  it  hiss  through  the  air. 
He  reeled  backward — the  harpoon  grazed  his 
arm  and  struck  the  ice. 

At  that  very  instant  the  oncoming  breaker 
descended  with  a  rush  from  behind — a  torrent 
of  water  washed  the  floe.  Ootah  was  lifted 
from  his  feet  and  dashed  against  the  sled. 
When  he  rose  he  waited  in  silence  for  an  at- 
tack. There  was  none.  He  moved  over  the 
floe  cautiously,  feeling  the  darkness.  Creep- 
ing to  the  edge  he  saw  something  dimly  white 
and  blurred  on  the  receding  wave.  "Maisan- 
guaq,"  he  called,  softly.  There  was  a  pang  at 
his  heart,  for  he  was  truly  gentle.  He  strained 
his  ears  to  hear  through  the  din  of  the  ele- 
ments. The  floe  suddenly  jolted  him  as  it  was 
carried,  with  a  thud,  against  shore-clinging  ice. 
Ootah  peered  seaward,  and  called  again,  loud- 

ly 

"Maisanguaq!" 
Only  the  waves  replied. 
Hurriedly  he  cut  the  leather  lashings  and, 
leaping  from  floe  to  floe,  carried  Annadoah  to 


228  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

the  shelter  of  the  shore.  Returning  he  loos- 
ened the  dogs.  Only  three  lived.  Biding  his 
time  until  the  floe  was  ground  securely  among 
others,  he  then  dragged  his  load  of  meat 
ashore.  Sinking  to  the  earth  he  rubbed  Anna- 
doah's  hands  and  breathed  with  eager  and  en- 
raptured transport  into  her  face. 

He  called  her  name.    Presently  she  stirred. 

"Ootah,"  she  murmured.  "It  is  very  dark — 
very  dark — I  wonder  .  .  .  whether  ...  it 
will  soon  ...  be  spring." 

He  chafed  her  hands.  For  a  lucid  moment 
she  nestled  to  him  and  in  a  terrified  voice  whis- 
pered— 

"Maisanguaq — where  is  he?"  She  heard 
Ootah's  reply— 

"He  hath  gone  the  long  journey  of  the 
dead." 

Annadoah  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief  and 
again  floated  into  the  coma  of  fever  and  ex- 
haustion. 

The  journey  before  Ootah  was  desperately 
diflicult  in  the  storm  and  darkness.  In  his 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  229 

way  of  reckoning  he  knew  they  had  floated 
about  two  miles  south  of  the  village.  The  re- 
turn lay  along  the  sea  and  over  crushed, 
blocked  ice.  Much  as  he  regretted  it,  he  was 
compelled  to  leave  the  precious  load  of  walrus 
blubber  behind,  so  as  to  carry  Annadoah,  who 
was  unable  to  walk,  on  the  sledge.  He  cov- 
ered the  blubber  with  cakes  of  ice,  hopeful  that 
it  might  by  chance  escape  the  ravaging  bears. 
His  companions  might  come  for  it  after  his 
return.  He  knew  the  probabilities  were,  how- 
ever, that  the  keen  noses  of  bears  or  wolves 
would  detect  it. 

After  lashing  Annadoah  to  the  sledge,  so 
she  might  not  be  jolted  from  it,  Ootah,  with  a 
brave  heart,  started  in  the  teeth  of  the  biting 
wind.  The  half-frozen  dogs  rose  to  their  task 
nobly  and  pulled  at  the  traces.  Ootah  pushed 
the  sledge  from  behind.  He  trusted  to  the 
sure  instinct  of  the  animals  to  find  a  safe  way. 
Progress  was  necessarily  slow.  Fortunately 
the  snow  stopped  falling  and  one  agony  was 
removed. 


230  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

In  lulls  of  the  storm  Ootah  heard  Annadoah 
moaning  in  her  delirium. 

When  they  reached  the  village,  a  half  dozen 
men  were  assembled  outside  their  houses. 
They  rejoicingly  hailed  Ootah,  whom  they  had 
counted  among  the  dead.  He  learned  that 
two  of  his  companions  had  gone  to  join  Mai- 
sanguaq.  The  first  party  had  safely  reached 
the  shore  before  the  breaking  away  of  the  ice. 
The  news  of  Ootah's  arrival  brought  out  the 
women.  When  they  saw  Annadoah  they 
crowded  about  her,  scolding.  Ootah  silenced 
the  garrulous  throng  with  a  fierce  command. 
They  shrank  away. 

"She  came  to  me  on  the  ice,"  he  said. 
"Knew  ye  not  that  the  spirits  fared  not  well 
within  her,  that  she  was  ill,  ye  she-wolves? 
She  sees  things  that  are  not  so  and  raves  of 
the  curses  ye  invoked,  barking  she-dogs! 
Agal  Agal  Go — go!" 

Assisted  by  several  of  the  men,  Ootah  con- 
veyed Annadoah  into  her  igloo  and  laid  her 
upon  her  couch.  Her  face  was  flushed,  and 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  231 

as  she  lay  there  Ootah  thought  she  was  very 
beautiful.  She  had  become  much  emaciated — 
Ootah  did  not  like  that.  But  when  she  opened 
her  eyes  Ootah  saw  in  them  a  soft,  new  light. 

"Thou  art  brave,  Ootah,"  she  said,  essaying 
a  smile  of  gratitude.  "Thou  art  brave  of 
heart  .  .  .  and  kind." 

Ootah's  heart  stirred.  Once  she  had  said 
that  his  heart  was  as  soft  as  that  of  a  woman; 
this  was,  indeed,  to  him  reward  for  all  the 
frightful  terrors  he  had  endured  on  the  storm- 
ing sea. 

"And  do  the  wings  of  thy  heart  not  stir, 
Annadoah?"  he  asked  softly,  a  world  of  plead- 
ing in  his  voice.  "Wilt  thou  not  be  mine  in 
the  spring?" 

"In  the  spring,"  she  said,  dreamily,  and  her 
voice  quavered  .  .  .  "in  the  spring  .  .  ." 

A  far-away  look  came  into  her  eyes,  and 
Ootah  felt  an  infinite  ache  at  his  heart. 

"I  am  afraid,  Ootah,"  she  said  presently, 
in  a  trembling  voice  .  .  .  "Afraid  .  .  .  my 
head  burns — the  igloo  is  black  .  .  .  Dost 


232  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

thou  remember  what  the  women  told  their 
dead?  .  .  .  They  invoked  the  dead  to  curse 
me  ...  as  I  stood  by  the  open  sea  .  .  . 
when  the  moon  rose  .  .  .  Ootah!  Ootah!  I 
cannot  see  thee  ...  It  is  very  .  .  .  dark." 
Ootah  laid  his  hand  upon  Annadoah's  head. 

"The  spirits  do  not  fare  well  within  thee," 
he  said.  "But  I  will  care  for  thee." 

For  nearly  a  moon  Annadoah  lay  ill  with  a 
strange  fever.  And  in  her  disturbed  dreams, 
as  Ootah  watched  through  the  long  hours,  she 
murmured  vaguely,  but  longingly,  for  the 
spring. 


IX 

"Turning  softly,  she  found  a  tiny  naked 
baby  .  .  .  Annadoah  leaned  forward,  gazing 
at  it  intently,  wildly  —  then  uttered  a  scream 
as  though  she  had  been  stabbed  to  the  heart 


sun  rose  above  the  horizon  and 
JL  flooded  the  earth  with  liquid  gold; 
again  the  sea  ran  with  running  light  ;  the  melt- 
ing glaciers  shimmered  with  burning  ame- 
thystine hues;  the  snow-covered  mountains 
took  fire  and  glowed  with  burning  bars  of 
chrysoberyl  and  sapphire,  while  on  the  limpid 
sea  the  moving  bergs  glittered  like  monstrous 
diamonds  electrically  white.  On  the  seques- 
tered slopes  of  the  low  mountain  valleys  green 
mosses  once  more  carpeted  the  earth,  butter- 
cups and  dandelions  peeped  pale  golden  eyes 
from  the  ground,  in  the  teeming  crevices  of  the 

233 


234  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

high  promontories  delicate  green  and  crimson 
lichens  wove  a  marvellous  lacery,  and  wher- 
ever the  sun  poured  its  encouraging  springtime 
light  beauteous  small  star-  and  bell-shaped 
flowers  burst  into  an  effulgence  of  pale  rose 
and  glistening  white  bloom.  The  suggestion 
of  a  very  faint,  sweet  aroma  pervaded  the  air. 
Above  the  promontories  millions  of  auks 
again  made  black  clouds  against  the  sky, — 
eider  ducks  floated  on  the  molten  waters  of 
sheltering  fjords, — along  the  icy  shores  puf- 
fins, with  white  swelling  breasts,  sat  in  mili- 
tary line, — guillemots  cooed  their  spring  love 
songs  and  fulmar  gulls  uttered  amorous  calls, 
— on  the  green  slopes  the  white  hare  of  the 
arctic  gambolled,  and  tiny  bears,  soft  and 
silken  flossed,  played  at  the  entrances  of  moss- 
ensconced  caves.  Out  on  the  sea  unexpected 
herds  of  walrus  lay  sleeping  on  floating  ice; 
harp  seals  sported  joyously  in  the  waves;  a 
white  whale  spouted  shafts  of  blue  water  high 
into  the  air.  From  the  interior  mountains 
came  the  howl  of  wolves  and  foxes,  the  sound 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  235 

of  rushing  waters  and  the  roar  of  released 
glaciers.  Nature  was  vocal  with  awakening 
life. 

In  her  igloo  Annadoah  lay  alone — for  with 
spring  the  time  of  her  trial  had  come. 

In  the  customary  preparations  for  the  com- 
ing of  Annadoah's  unborn  child  Ootah  had 
entered  with  rare  tenderness  and  solicitude. 
When  a  little  one  is  expected  among  these 
northern  people,  new  clothing,  of  the  rarest 
skins  of  animals  and  the  feathers  of  birds,  must 
be  made  for  both  mother  and  child;  a  new 
igloo  is  built  for  the  event  by  the  happy  father, 
for  the  little  one  they  believe  should  come  in  a 
house  unspotted  and  white  as  the  driven  snow. 
Annadoah  was  deserted,  husbandless;  the 
women  of  the  tribe  remained  aloof  from  her; 
Ootah  alone  stood  by  her.  And  Ootah  helped 
her  with  unselfish,  eager  gladness. 

For  several  summers,  in  anticipation  of  the 
day  when  he  might  be  a  father,  Ootah  had 
gathered  exquisite  and  delicate  skins.  These 


236  THE  ETERNAL  MAIDEN 

he  now  brought  to  Annadoah.  There  were 
silken  young  caribou  hides,  soft,  fluffy  white 
and  blue  fox  pelts,  as  well  as  the  skins  of  hares 
and  the  young  of  bears.  Of  these,  Annadoah, 
in  the  last  week  of  fading  winter,  made,  ac- 
cording to  custom,  new  garments  for  herself. 
Then,  as  the  sun  rose  in  early  spring  and  the 
birds  mated,  Ootah  went  away  to  the  high 
cliffs,  where  the  auks  nested,  and  jumping 
from  crag  to  crag,  hundreds  of  feet  above  the 
sea,  gathered  a  thousand  tiny  baby  auks,  with 
crests  of  wondrous  down,  of  which  the  hood 
for  the  unborn  child  was  made.  In  these  high 
crevices,  from  which  at  any  moment  he  might 
be  plunged  to  death,  Ootah  gathered  mosses 
of  ineffable  softness,  which  were  placed  in  the 
hood  as  a  cushion  for  the  little  one. 

Near  her  winter  home,  Ootah  built  a  new 
igloo  for  Annadoah,  and  never  was  one  made 
with  more  infinite  patience  and  greater  care. 
Inside  it  was  immaculately  white,  and  when 
he  lighted  the  new  lamp  the  walls  glistened 
like  silver;  over  the  light  he  placed  a  new  pot 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  237 

of  soap  stone,  for  everything  in  that  place  in 
which  a  new  life  was  to  come  into  being  must 
by  an  unwritten  law  be  freshly  made  and 
never  used  before.  He  built  a  bed  of  ice,  laid 
it  thick  with  moss,  and  over  this  tenderly 
placed,  in  turn,  first  walrus  hides,  then  thick 
reindeer  and  warm  fox  skins.  He  brought  to 
the  igloo  a  supply  of  walrus  meat,  and  then, 
fearful  to  be  present  at  an  event  in  which  he 
had  no  right  of  participation,  prepared  to  de- 
part to  the  mountains  to  hunt  game. 

Before  leaving  he  crept  half  fearfully  into 
Annadoah's  old  igloo  and  told  her  all  was 
ready.  She  smiled  fondly  and  reached  forth 
her  little  hands..  "Thou  art  very  kind,  Ootah," 
she  said,  "thou  art  brave  and  kind."  Ootah 
was  at  a  loss  for  words,  but  his  heart  beat  high, 
and  he  was  very  glad. 

The  natives  watched  Annadoah,  as,  arrayed 
in  her  immaculate  garments,  she  made  her 
way,  with  bowed  head,  to  her  new  home;  they 
whispered  among  themselves  as  they  saw  the 
ilisitok  (wise  woman)  follow  later. 


238  THE   ETEBNAL   MAIDEN 

When  she  sank  on  the  new  and  wonderful 
couch,  gratitude  filled  Annadoah's  heart,  and 
she  murmured  over  and  over  again:  "Thou 
art  very  kind,  Ootah:  thou  art  brave  and 
kind."  Somehow  the  bright  igloo  became 
black  and  she  seemed  to  be  floating  on  clouds. 
She  remembered  the  Eskimo  women  wailing 
in  the  moonlight  ...  by  the  open  sea  .  .  . 
and  the  curse  they  invoked  upon  her  through 
the  dead.  She  trembled  and  felt  inordinately 
cold.  But  she  knew  it  was  spring,  for  outside 
the  igloo,  with  blithesome  and  silvery  sweet- 
ness, a  bunting  was  singing. 

When  Annadoah  awoke  from  her  delirium 
of  agony  she  saw  that  the  wise  woman  had 
left  her.  The  walls  of  the  igloo  sparkled  as 
the  flames  of  the  lamp  flickered.  Over  it  a 
pot  sizzled  with  walrus  meat  frying  in  fat.  In 
her  half -waking  condition  Annadoah  realized 
that  something  lay  by  her,  and  turning,  softly, 
she  found  a  tiny,  naked  baby.  Its  skin  was 
pale  golden,  its  hair,  unlike  that  of  other 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  239 

babies,  was  of  the  color  of  the  rays  of  the  sun. 
With  half -fearful  gentleness  she  turned  it 
over  and  over.  Speechless  with  wonder,  an 
inexplicable  stirring  in  her  bosom,  she  regard- 
ed its  face — she  observed  its  nose,  the  contour 
of  its  cheeks,  the  arrogance  of  its  little  chin; 
she  noted  in  her  child  that  curious  and  often 
brief  resemblance  of  the  new-born  tq  the 
father — and  this  immediately  recalled  vividly 
and  achingly  the  face  of  Olafaksoah.  This 
was  her  child,  and  his.  Surely,  surely,  with 
great  joy  she  understood!  With  this  thought, 
an  impetuous  longing  for  the  father  filled  her. 
Passionately  pressing  the  little  creature  to  her 
breast  she  gave  vent  to  the  homesickness  and 
ache  of  her  heart  in  wild,  convulsed  sobs.  The 
touch  of  the  little  one,  the  resemblance  of  its 
tiny  face  to  that  of  the  blond  man — these 
brought  back  the  old  passion  and  longing  in 
all  their  bitterness.  Yet  at  the  same  time  the 
child  brought  a  new  satisfying  solace  to  her; 
it  filled  an  immeasurable  void  in  her  heart. 
Now  and  again  she  held  it  from  her,  and  sup- 


240  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

pressing  her  violent  sobs,  solemnly  regarded 
its  face.  She  could  not  get  over  the  wonder 
and  half-surprise  that  possessed  her.  With 
utter  abandon  she  finally  fiercely  clutched  it 
to  her.  The  infant  began  to  cry.  Annadoah, 
with  slow,  cautious  gentleness  laid  it  down  by 
her  side,  scared,  amazed.  Thereupon  the  baby 
for  the  first  time  opened  its  eyes.  Annadoah 
leaned  forward,  gazing  at  it  intently,  wildly — 
then  uttered  a  scream  as  though  she  had  been 
stabbed  to  the  heart. 

When  the  wise  woman — who  had  left  Anna- 
doah alone  for  a  long  sleep — returned  to  pre- 
pare food  and  to  seek  of  the  spirits  the  des- 
tined name  of  the  child,  she  saw  Annadoah 
lying  still,  her  face  upturned,  tear  drops 
glistening  beneath  her  eyes.  The  wise  woman 
placed  some  of  the  fried  walrus  meat,  or  sera- 
latoq — the  prescribed  food  for  a  mother  the 
day  her  child  is  born — into  a  stone  plate  and 
put  it  on  the  floor  within  reach  of  Annadoah. 
Then  she  melted  some  snow  and  placed  it  by 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  241 

the  couch.  Slowly  approaching  the  bed  she 
lifted  the  naked  infant. 

"When  thy  mother  wakes,"  she  muttered, 
"I  shall  call  upon  the  spirits.  I  shall  give  thee 
the  name  they  gave  thee  in  the  great  dark  ere 
thou  earnest  hither — the  name  which  was  born 
with  thee  and  which  shall  be  as  thy  shadow." 

As  she  laid  the  little  creature  by  the  uncon- 
scious mother  she  saw  a  strange  and  frightful 
thing.  The  curse!  And  thereupon  she  knew 
she  would  not  be  called  upon  to  learn  of  the 
spirits  any  name  for  this  unhappy  child.  It 
had,  indeed,  been  named  by  the  dead  and  with 
it  the  unuttered  name  must  soon  return  to  the 
great  dark.  With  set  lips,  and  the  grim  de- 
termination of  duty  on  her  face,  she  crept 
softly  from  the  igloo. 

Annadoah  awoke.  At  first  she  gazed  about 
dazedly.  Then  she  realized  that  the  ilisitok 
had  been  with  her — she  observed  the  meat  and 
warm  water  by  her  couch.  She  realized  also 
that  the  wise  woman  must  have  seen  the  hor- 
ror which  had  gripped  her  heart  like  the  teeth 


242  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

of  wolves.  Beneath  lids  scarred  as  by  the 
claws  of  a  hawk,  the  baby's  eyes  had  been 
blasted  by  some  unknown  prenatal  disease — 
the  terrible  dead,  with  their  talon-hands,  had 
smitten!  The  child  was  organically  blind, 
and,  being  defective  and  fatherless,  Annadoah 
knew  that,  by  the  law  of  her  people,  it  was 
doomed  to  immediate  death.  While  she  shook 
with  terror,  withal  a  grim  determination  rose 
within  her.  All  the  tremendous  urge  of  that 
mighty  mother-love  which  has  beautified  and 
ennobled  the  world  clamored  in  the  heart  of 
this  simple  woman  that  her  child  must  not  die. 
As  she  touched  the  infant  with  a  sacred 
tenderness,  her  very  hands  warmed  with  the 
impassioned  affection  that  throbbed  through 
her  with  every  heart-beat.  As  she  gazed  upon 
the  features,  faintly  suggestive  of  its  father's, 
she  felt  that  she  could  never  part  from  this 
familiar  and  intimate  link  with  the  sponta- 
neous and  powerful  passion  of  her  girlhood. 
When  she  peered  into  those  piteous,  blighted 
eyes,  mighty  sobs  of  pity  shook  her,  but  she 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  243 

felt  that  she  must  be  silent,  and  she  forced 
back  the  tears.  Outside,  a  spring  bunting  was 
still  singing,  sweetly,  ineffably. 

As  she  caressed  it,  the  child's  face  twisted 
as  if  in  pain. 

"Well  do  I  know,  little  one,  thou  dost  de- 
sire thy  name — ategarumadlune"  she  said. 
"Thou  dost  desire  it  as  that  which  is  as  pre- 
cious as  thy  shadow.  But  the  ilmtok  has  gone 
and  never  will  she  breathe  o'er  thee  the  name 
I  know  .  .  .  the  name  I  felt  stirring  within 
me  since  the  night  .  .  .  when  the  women  ad- 
dressed the  dead  .  .  .  Sweetly  didst  thou 
sing  within  my  heart — but  thy  song  came  from 
the  darkness.  Yea  .  .  .  from  the  darkness. 
loh-iooh!" 

Very  gently,  very  softly,  she  pressed  her 
fingers  upon  the  baby's  sightless  eyes. 

"I  shall  call  thee  little  Blind  Spring  Bunt- 
ing," she  softly  murmured,  lifting  the  baby 
and  pressing  its  tender  face  to  her  own.  "Poor 
Little  Blind  Spring  Bunting."  She  soothed 
its  face,  infinite  pity  in  her  eyes.  "Thou  wilt 


244  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

never  see  Sukh-eh-nukh,  nor  the  ahmingmdh, 
nor  the  birds  that  fly  in  the  air,  Spring  Bunt- 
ing. All  thy  days  shall  be  as  the  long  night, 
and  thy  whole  life  shall  be  without  any  light 
of  moon.  But  thy  heart  is  warm  and  bright 
as  the  sun  in  the  south,  whence  Olafaksoah 
came,  and  it  makes  the  heart  of  Annadoah 
very  warm.  Poor  .  .  .  Little  .  .  .  Blind 
Spring  Bunting!" 

Murmuring  softly  she  rocked  the  little  baby 
gently  in  her  arms.  Then  she  heard  the  omi- 
nous sound  of  a  native  rushing  by  the  igloo 
and  voices  upraised.  What  were  they  saying? 
That  Annadoah's  child  was  blind? 

A  frantic  determination  to  escape  filled  her. 
The  danger  was  immediate — she  must  act  at 
once.  But  what  should  she  do?  Where  should 
she  go? 

She  rose  and  moved  bewilderedly  about  the 
igloo.  She  felt  weak  and  dazed.  At  any  mo- 
ment they  might  break  into  her  immaculate 
new  home  and  seize  the  child  from  her  arms. 
At  any  instant  they  might  come  with  wicked 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  245 

ropes  to  wrap  about  the  baby's  tender  neck. 
That  she  must  flee  she  knew — but  where? 
Where?  She  thought  of  Ootah.  But  Ootah 
was  in  the  mountains.  And  not  a  moment 
could  be  lost.  In  these  matters  the  natives 
lose  little  time.  Moreover,  she  knew  the  wom- 
en hated  her;  and  that  they  had  succeeded  in 
making  the  men  gradually  bitter. 

"Olafaksoah!  Olafaksoah!"  she  called  trag- 
ically. Then  she  recalled  with  a  start  that 
Olafaksoah  had  summer  headquarters  some 
twenty  miles  to  the  south.  It  was  a  boxhouse, 
built  on  a  promontory  of  the  Greenland  coast. 
She  remembered  it,  as  she  had  seen  it  on  a 
journey  south  some  summers  before;  the  way 
thither,  dangerous  at  this  season  of  the  year 
when  the  ice  was  breaking,  she  well  knew. 
Yes,  she  would  seek  refuge  there. 

"Perchance  Olafaksoah  hath  returned — did 
he  not  say  he  would  return  in  the  spring? 
When  the  buntings  sing?"  She  laughed  spon- 
taneously. "Yea,  yea!  We  will  go  there, 
Little  Blind  Spring  Bunting." 


246  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

Quickly  she  adjusted  her  own  new  gar- 
ments, and  then  she  took  the  little  golden  baby 
and  over  its  head  and  shoulders  laced  a  tight- 
fitting  hood  of  soft  young  fox  skin.  This  done 
she  gently  placed  the  child  into  the  hood  on 
her  back.  Inside  this  was  lined  with  the 
breasts  of  baby  auks  and  made  downy  with 
fibrous  moss.  She  hurriedly  secured  the  child 
to  herself  by  means  of  a  sinew  thread  which 
passed  about  its  body  as  it  reposed  in  the  hood, 
and  which  in  turn,  passing  under  her  arms,  she 
tied  about  the  upper  portion  of  her  waist.  The 
voices  outside  had  ceased. 

Suppressing  her  very  breath,  she  crept 
through  the  long  tunnel  leading  from  the  igloo 
and  peeped  cautiously  from  the  entrance.  She 
could  hear  her  heart  throb.  She  feared  the 
natives  might  detect  it. 

Five  hundred  feet  to  the  north  a  group  were 
engaged  in  excited  conversation.  Annadoah's 
brain  whirled  with  the  fragments  of  what  they 
said.  She  knew  the  moment  had  come  to  de- 
part. She  emerged  and  on  all  fours  crept  to 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  247 

the  protecting  lee  of  her  igloo  where  she  was 
hidden  from  their  view. 

An  open  space  of  six  hundred  feet  lay  be- 
tween her  and  the  cliff  around  which  the  trail 
to  the  southern  shelter  lay.  Annadoah  sum- 
moned all  her  strength  of  will,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  walk  slowly,  with  her  head  bent  and 
her  face  concealed,  so  as  to  avoid  arousing  sus- 
picion, over  the  dangerous  area.  Her  heart 
trembled  within  her — at  any  moment  she  ex- 
pected to  hear  the  savage  cries.  When  she 
reached  the  cliff  she  felt  as  if  she  were  about 
to  faint. 

Looking  fearfully  backward,  with  a  sigh 
of  immeasurable  relief,  she  saw  that  she  was 
unobserved.  Raising  her  head  heavenward 
she  breathed  her  thanks  to  the  dead  father  and 
mother  who  were  undoubtedly  watching.  She 
turned  about  the  cliff,  her  heart  bounding 
tumultuously,  and,  panting  the  words  of  the 
magic  spell,  asked  that  her  legs  be  given  the 
swiftness  of  the  wind  spirits.  She  was  very 
faint,  she  had  scarcely  any  feeling  whatever  in 


248  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

her  limbs;  but  summoning  all  her  courage, 
bringing  to  bear  all  the  love  of  this  child  she 
sought  to  save,  she  turned  and  ran. 

It  was  not  long  before  she  heard — or  imag- 
ined— the  angry  cries  of  pursuing  natives  be- 
hind her. 


"A  frail,  pitiful  figure  Annadoah  stood  on 
the  clif}  wringing  her  hands  toward  the  de- 
clining sun  .  .  .  el-o-h-h-h,f  she  moaned,  and 
her  voice  sobbed  its  pathos  over  the  seas. 
'I-o-h-h-h!  I-o-h-h-h,  Sukh-eh-nukh!  Un- 
happy sun — unhappy  sun!  I-o-h-h-h,  Anna- 
doah— unhappy,  unhappy  Annadoah!3 } 

TWENTY  miles  to  the  south,  on  a  great 
cliff  which  stepped  stridently  into  the 
polar  sea,  stood  a  house  built  of  stray  timber 
and  boxes  which,  for  a  half  decade,  had  been 
the  summer  headquarters  of  parties  of  Danish 
and  Newfoundland  traders  who  came  north 
annually  and  scoured  Greenland  for  ivories 
and  furs.  The  hulk  of  a  house  was  weather- 
beaten,  dilapidated,  and  scarred  black  by  the 
burning  cold.  A  more  desolate  habitation 

249 


250  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

could  not  be  imagined  in  all  the  world,  a  more 
devastated  land  could  nowhere  else  on  all  the 
globe  be  found.  For  leagues  and  leagues  to 
the  north  and  south,  the  scrofulous  promon- 
tories lay  barren  under  the  blight  of  the  merci- 
less northern  blasts.  Over  the  corroded  iron 
rocks  strata  of  red  earth  and  deeper  crimson 
ore  ran  like  the  streaky  stains  of  monstrous 
and  unhuman  murders  committed  in  aeons 
past.  Not  a  particle  of  vegetation  was  visible ; 
there  were  no  lichens  nor  starry  flowers. 
There  was  no  life  save  that  of  the  black  birds 
which  winged  restlessly  about  the  sky  and 
squawked  in  grotesque  mockery  at  the  region 
and  its  doom.  In  strange  contrast,  the  sky  was 
as  blue  as  the  limpid  skies  of  Umbria, — and 
nearly  two  hundred  feet  below  the  gnarled 
gashed  cliff  the  ocean  broke  in  terrific  cascades 
of  diamonded  foam. 

The  top  of  the  cliff  on  which  the  house  stood 
overleaped  the  sea,  so  that,  looking  below,  one 
saw  only  the  recoiling  waters  of  a  rich,  deep 
gold,  capped  with  silver  crescents  of  broken 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  251 

spray.  From  the  sheer  precipitous  receding 
face  of  the  cliff,  knife-like  granite  spars  pro- 
jected, and  in  the  crevices  and  nooks  of  these 
countless  birds  nested.  Hungry,  desirous,  in- 
satiate— the  voice  of  that  fearful  and  balefully 
luring  world — there  sounded  eternally  the  roar 
and  crash  of  the  breaking  golden  waves. 

Over  the  uneven  scraggy  promontory, 
blinded  by  the  fierce  sunlight,  Annadoah  stag- 
gered. The  world  reeled  about  her;  the  sky 
above  her  had  become  black.  Before  her — a 
small  speck  in  the  distance — she  saw  the  black 
wooden  house  silhouetted  against  the  molten 
sea.  She  could  scarcely  move  her  legs;  she 
ached  in  every  limb;  every  moment  she  felt  as 
if  she  would  swoon,  but  the  frenzied  fear  in 
her  heart  urged  her  on.  She  suffered  intoler- 
ably. 

Of  that  long,  tortuous  journey  Annadoah 
had  no  clear  remembrance — with  each  step  her 
one  urging,  predominant  thought  had  been  to 


252  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

forge  ahead,  to  keep  from  swooning, — to  es- 
cape those  who  were  angrily  calling  far  be- 
hind. 

Leaving  her  village,  along  the  difficult 
broken  coast  her  trail  lay;  it  crept  painfully 
up  over  the  slippery  sides  of  melting  glaciers, 
some  of  them  a  thousand  feet  high,  and  made 
sheer  descents  over  places  where  the  ice  was 
splitting;  it  writhed  about  hundreds  of  irreg- 
ular sounds  and  twisted  fjords. 

In  her  desperation  to  escape,  Annadoah, 
without  a  thought  of  the  danger,  essayed  to 
cross  fjords  where  the  ice  was  breaking.  As 
she  sped  over  deceptive  unbroken  areas  the  ice 
often  split  under  her  feet.  In  one  of  the 
sounds  jammed  ice  was  moving.  To  go 
around  it  she  knew  would  mean  a. loss  of  three 
miles.  She  leaped  upon  the  heaving  ice.  It 
rocked  dangerously  beneath  her  feet.  As  she 
left  the  shore  the  current  increased,  the  ice 
moved  more  swiftly.  From  cake  to  cake  she 
leaped  with  the  agility  of  an  arctic  deer.  The 
ice  floes  swirled  under  her  and  tilted  as  her 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  253 

feet  alighted.  Half  way  across,  her  foot 
slipped — the  ice  fragment  eluded  her  wild 
grasp  and  she  sank  into  the  frigid  water.  She 
felt  herself  sinking;  for  a  moment  she  seemed 
unable  to  continue  the  struggle — then  she  re- 
called the  dear  burden  upon  her  back.  She 
fought  the  swift  current  and  grappled  madly 
with  the  jamming  ice.  It  gathered  about  her 
— she  feared  she  would  be  buried  by  the  force 
of  the  impact.  But  with  a  mighty  struggle 
she  finally  grasped  hold  of  a  fortunate  ridge 
on  a  cake  and  clambered  to  its  surface.  The 
baby  was  unscathed.  It  was  crying  loudly  in 
its  hood.  Although  her  hands  were  almost 
frozen,  the  cold  water  had  not  entered  her  gar- 
ments. She  leaped  into  the  air  and  fled.  She 
next  scaled  the  rocky  face  of  a  precipice  to 
gain  time — the  rocks  cut  her  face  and  hands. 
Swarms  of  birds,  frightened  from  their  nests, 
surrounded  her.  Their  cries  filled  her  with 
terror.  Reaching,  on  the  farther  side,  shallow 
streams  over  which  thin  ice  lay,  she  bravely 
forged  ahead — the  ice  broke — her  feet  sank 


254  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

into  the  mnd.  Her  breath  gave  out — she  felt 
paralyzing  pangs  in  her  lungs.  Yet  the  cries 
behind — which  had  become  somewhat  more 
distant — urged  her  on.  Again  and  again,  in 
crossing  water  moving  with  broken  ice  her  feet 
slipped  into  black,  treacherous  streams,  and, 
swimming  with  native  skill,  she  saved  the  child 
from  the  least  harm.  By  degrees  its  cries 
ceased  and  it  fell  into  slumber.  Occasionally 
Annadoah  was  compelled  to  rest*  to  regain  her 
breath.  Her  reserve  strength — as  is  that  of 
her  people — was  tremendous.  Staggering 
slowly  ahead,  she  often  sank  into  engulfing 
morasses  where  the  earth  had  melted  and  wil- 
lows were  sprouting.  Panting,  trembling  in 
every  limb,  she  fought  her  way  out.  For  the 
better  part  of  the  journey  her  legs  moved 
mechanically — she  was  only  half  conscious. 
Urged  by  her  superhuman  determination,  the 
little  woman  struggled  over  twenty  miles,  and 
when  she  reached  the  great  promontory  where 
the  house  stood,  her  kamiks  were  torn,  her 
clothing  was  soaked  with  frigid  water,  and  her 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  255 

hands  were  bleeding  from  wounds  inflicted  by 
the  sharp  rocks.* 

Behind  her,  in  her  delirious  flight,  Anna- 
doah  ever  heard  the  threatening  cries  of  pur- 
suing tribesmen. 

As  she  approached  the  wooden  house  she 
staggered  to  and  fro,  and  at  one  time  was 
perilously  near  the  edge  of  the  cliff. 

Upon  her  back  the  infant  slept  peacefully. 

"Olafaksoah!  Olafaksoah!"  she  struggled 
to  call,  but  her  voice  fell  to  a  whisper. 

The  windows  of  the  grim  house  were  as 
black  as  burnt  holes;  they  glared  at  her  un- 
seeingly,  without  welcome — like  blind  eyes. 

Desperately  she  raised  her  voice.  Only  a 
panting,  breathless  plaint  quavered  over  the 
dumb,  unreplying  rocks.  The  sea  licked  its 
yellow,  hungry  tongues  below. 

*  Annadoah's  flight,  extraordinary  as  it  is,  is  not  without 
even  more  remarkable  precedents.  In  one  case  a  woman  who 
had  been  rejected  by  her  husband  made  a  forty-mile  journey 
during  winter  to  a  spot  south  of  her  village  where  a  child, 
some  years  before,  had  been  buried.  There  the  woman  wept 
and  thus  consoled  herself.  Having  exhausted  her  grief,  she 
returned  to  her  people.  On  the  trip  she  had  no  food  whatever. 


256  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

At  the  door  of  the  frame  house  Annadoah 
paused  and  still  without  losing  hope  again  es- 
sayed to  call.  Her  voice  broke.  The  house 
was  undoubtedly  vacant.  There  was  no  reply. 

She  bent  her  head  to  listen.  She  could 
hardly  hear  because  of  the  pound  of  blood  in 
her  ears. 

Surely  he  had  come — did  he  not  say  he 
would  come  in  the  spring? 

She  tried  the  door.    It  was  locked. 

She  beat  it  frenziedly  with  her  fists.  She 
beat  it  until  her  fingers  bled. 

Then  she  threw  her  body  against  it  like  a 
mad  thing.  With  crooked  fingers  she  clawed 
savagely  at  the  wood.  At  last  she  quelled  the 
tumult  in  her  bosom  and  found  voice. 

"Olafaksoah — Olafaksoah  —  Olafaksoah  — 
ioh-h-h!  Ioh-h-h!"  she  screamed.  She  sank 
to  her  knees  and  pounded  at  the  door-sill  with 
her  fists. 

When  the  native  tribesmen,  furious  at  her 
flight,  at  her  temerity  in  trying  to  evade  their 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  257 

inviolable  law,  clambered  up  the  cliff,  they  saw 
a  dark,  stark  figure  lying  still  before  the  door 
of  the  box-house.  Their  voices  rose  in  a  rau- 
cous clamor. 

Like  wolves  descending  eagerly  upon  their 
prey  they  bore  down  upon  the  unconscious 
woman.  Some  of  the  women  of  the  tribe  had 
accompanied  them.  Their  voices  rose  with 
eager,  glad  calls  to  vengeance ;  they  demanded 
the  life  of  Annadoah's  child  without  delay. 
The  shrill  howl  of  their  dogs  was  mingled  in 
that  vindictive,  savage  chorus. 

"Little  Blind  Spring  Bunting,"  Annadoah 
murmured,  awakened  from  her  trance  by  the 
approaching  calls. 

Opening  her  eyes  she  saw  the  troop  descend- 
ing. Staggering  to  her  feet  she  stood  with 
her  back  against  the  door,  facing  the  clamor- 
ing crowd  defiantly.  In  their  veins  the  savage 
blood  of  fierce  centuries  was  aroused,  in  Anna- 
doah's heart  all  the  primitive  ferocity  of  ma- 
ternal protection. 

They  surrounded  her.     The   struggle   was 


258  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

brief.  In  a  moment — while  strong  hands  held 
her — they  cut  the  sinew  lashing  and  rudely 
tore  the  baby  from  its  hood.  Annadoah  fell 
back,  half -stunned,  against  the  floor;  in  their 
midst  the  merciless  howling  natives  had  the 
helpless  infant. 

As  they  bore  it  over  the  promontory  Anna- 
doah uttered  a  savage,  snarling  cry,  as  of  a 
mountain  wolf  robbed  of  its  youngling,  and 
furiously  rushed  after  them. 

Grasping  hold  of  two  of  the  men,  she  pit- 
cously  begged  them  to  give  her  the  child.  She 
made  frantic  promises.  She  pleaded,  she 
sobbed,  she  raved  incoherently.  Holding  to 
the  men  with  a  fierce  grip  she  was  dragged 
along  on  her  knees.  Then  letting  go,  she 
cursed  the  tribe;  she  called  upon  them  the 
malediction  of  all  the  spirits.  Her  voice  broke 
• — she  could  only  scream.  She  tore  her  hair 
and  fell  prostrate,  her  body  throbbing  on  the 
rocks. 

Above  the  clamor  Annadoah  suddenly 
heard  a  strangely  familiar  voice  shouting  from 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  259 

the  distance.  Raising  herself  slightly,  she  saw 
a  well-known  figure  bounding  over  the  prom- 
ontory toward  the  murderous  natives.  Her 
heart  bounded — she  recognized  Ootah. 

Having  returned  from  the  mountains  Ootah 
had  learned  of  Annadoah's  flight  and  the  pur- 
suit; and  with  an  unselfish  determination  to 
save  the  child  he  had  immediately  followed. 

At  the  very  edge  of  the  cliff  the  natives 
paused.  In  his  hands,  Attalaq,  the  leader  of 
the  pursuit,  held  the  crying  babe.  Their  voices 
were  raised  to  an  uproar;  the  women  were 
chattering  fiercely.  With  quick  dexterity  At- 
talaq loosely  twisted  a  leather  thong  about  the 
baby's  neck,  and  in  haste  to  finish  the  tragic 
task  began  swaying  it  in  his  hands  so  as  to 
give  the  helpless  creature  momentum  in  its 
plunge  to  death.  Ootah  bounded  toward 
them. 

"Aulate!  Aulate!  Halt!"  Ootah  cried.  "I 
will  be  father  to  Annadoah's  child." 

The  crowd  turned — for  a  moment  they 
gazed  with  mingled  feelings  of  awed  surprise, 


260  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

half-incredulous  wonder  and  speechless  ad- 
miration upon  this  man  who  offered  to  make 
the  greatest  sacrifice  possible  to  one  of  the 
tribe ;  to  become  the  father,  protector  and  sup- 
porter of  another  man's  helpless,  defective  in- 
fant. For,  according  to  their  custom,  they 
just  as  spontaneously  grant  life  to  a  defective 
child  when  a  member  offers  to  assume  sole  re- 
sponsibility for  its  keeping  as  they  are  im- 
placably determined  upon  its  death  if  its 
mother  is  husbandless.  But  seldom  does  any 
man  make  this  sacrifice;  in  this  land  of  rigor- 
ous hardship  and  starvation  it  means  much. 

Ootah  fought  his  way  among  them.  They 
gave  way,  and  a  low  groan  arose — his  noble 
offer  had  come  too  late! 

On  the  crest  of  a  golden  wave  a  tiny  white 
speck  of  a  baby  face  gazed  in  open-eyed, 
frightened  astonishment  skyward,  and  in  a  lull 
of  the  intermittent  rush  of  waters  a  thin, 
piercing  baby  cry  arose  from  the  golden  sea. 

Awe-stricken,  abashed,  suddenly  over- 
whelmed with  regret  and  shame,  the  natives 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  261 

silently  drew  back  .  .  .  Ootah  paused  at  the 
very  edge  of  the  cliff  ...  he  saw  Annadoah's 
pleading  white  face  ...  he  extended  his 
arms  as  a  bird  opens  its  wings  for  flight  and 
brought  the  finger  tips  of  his  hands  together 
above  his  head.  For  a  moment  his  body 
slightly  swayed,  then  poising  to  secure  un- 
erring aim,  he  leaped  into  the  dashing  sea  .  .  . 

Still  and  statuesque  as  a  figure  of  stone,  but 
wild-eyed,  Annadoah  stood  alone  on  the  ex- 
treme edge  of  the  precipitous  cliff  and  watched 
the  struggle  in  the  dizzy  depths  below  ... 

Awed  by  the  splendor  of  a  heroism  so 
dauntless,  a  love  so  overwhelming,  unselfish 
and  great,  the  natives  retreated  to  a  far  dis- 
tance and  waited  in  fearful  silence. 

The  prolonged  infinity  of  suspense  and  hor- 
ror of  many  long  arctic  nights  seemed  concen- 
trated in  the  brief  spell  that  Annadoah  tensely, 
breathlessly,  watched  the  struggle  of  the  man 
to  save  her  child. 


262  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

Annadoah  saw  Ootah  disappear  in  the 
waters  after  his  desperate  dive  from  the  cliff 
and  rise  with  unerring  precision  on  the  sur- 
face near  the  sinking  babe.  The  sea  came 
thundering  against  the  jagged  rocks  in  long, 
terrific  swells,  and  was  hurled  back  in  a  tor- 
rential tumult  of  breaking  foam.  Ootah 
fought  the  seething  waves  in  his  effort  to 
grapple  the  living  thing  which  was  to  Anna- 
doah as  the  heart  of  her  bosom.  The  tiny 
speck  had  begun  to  sink — Ootah  made  a  dive 
under  the  water — and  rose  with  the  infant 
clasped  in  his  left  arm.  With  only  one  hand 
free,  he  made  a  desperate  struggle  against  the 
onslaught  of  the  terrible  watery  catapults  as 
they  hurled  him,  nearer  and  nearer,  toward 
the  rocks  beneath  the  cliff.  Annadoah  saw  his 
white  hand,  glistening  with  water,  shine  in  the 
sunlight  as  he  tried  to  climb  against  the  im- 
petus of  the  sea.  Sometimes  his  head  sank — 
then  only  the  struggling  hand  was  seen.  She 
crept  dangerously  closer  to  the  edge  of  the 
cliff  .  .  .  Slowly,  but  steadily,  Ootah  and  the 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  26S 

child  were  being  swept  backward  .  .  .  By 
degrees  the  steady  strokes  of  Ootah's  arm  be- 
gan to  waver.  Annadoah  saw  him  being  car- 
ried further  and  further  under  the  cliff  by  the 
irresistible  momentum  of  the  waves  ...  To 
be  dashed  against  the  jagged  rocks  beneath 
she  knew  meant  death.  Her  heart  seemed  to 
stop  .  .  .  but  presently,  swirling  helplessly 
in  the  foaming  cauldron  of  a  receding  breaker, 
she  saw  Ootah,  still  clasping  the  baby,  emerge 
from  under  the  rocks.  He  still  lived.  He  still 
fought.  Annadoah  watched  each  desperate, 
failing  stroke.  She  saw  his  strength  giving 
out  in  that  unequal  struggle,  saw  his  arm  fren- 
ziedly  but  ineffectually  beating  the  water,  saw 
his  head  disappear  .  .  .  for  longer  and  still 
longer  periods  .  .  .  She  caught  a  last  vision 
of  his  white  upturned  face,  of  his  eyes,  filled 
with  importunate  devotion,  gazing  directly  at 
her  from  out  the  blinding  waters  .  .  . 

Then  she  fell  to  her  knees,  and  lowering  her 
body,  gazed  wildly,  for  a  long,  long  time,  into 
the  sea  . 


264  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

Suddenly  she  uttered  a  low,  sharp,  involun- 
tary cry — and  the  waiting  tribesmen,  recoiling 
as  though  stunned,  understood.  They  all 
loved  Ootah — none  dared,  none  could  speak. 
Silent,  grief -stricken,  they  turned  away  their 
faces — even  their  dogs  were  still.  Annadoah 
still  peered,  searchingly,  for  a  long  time,  into 
the  sea. 

No,  there  was  nothing  there — nothing.  On 
the  aureate  waves  was  no  speck  of  life. 

Rising,  Annadoah  gazed  with  wide-open, 
solemn  eyes  seaward;  for  the  moment  she  felt 
in  her  heart  only  a  dull  ache. 

Along  the  horizon  to  the  east  the  sun,  ir- 
radiant  and  magnified,  lay  low  over  the  heav- 
ing seas.  Over  its  face,  like  a  veil  of  gold, 
translucent  vapors — the  breath  of  Kokoydh, 
the  god  of  waters — rose  from  the  melting  floes. 
A  strange  spell  seemed  suddenly  to  have  fallen 
over  the  earth.  Out  on  the  ocean  the  great 
bergs,  which  had  majestically  moved  south- 
ward like  the  phantoms  of  perished  ships, 
seemed  to  pause.  The  little  birds  which  had 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  265 

clustered  about  the  rocks  disappeared.  High 
in  the  sky  above  her,  a  sinister  black  bird 
poised  motionless  in  the  air. 

At  her  feet  the  roaring  clamor  of  the  waves 
seemed  resolved  into  the  solemn  sobbing 
measure  of  some  chant  for  the  dead. 

Slowly  and  by  degrees  the  utter  realization 
of  her  loss  dawned  upon  the  soul  of  Anna- 
doah.  And  to  her  in  that  magical  spell  the 
spirits  of  nature  and  the  souls  of  the  dead  be- 
gan to  manifest  themselves. 

Out  of  the  crimson-shot  vapors  mystical 
forms  took  shape.  Annadoah  saw  the  beauti- 
ful face  of  Nerrvik,  and  in  the  mists  saw  her 
watery  green  and  wondrous  tresses  of  un- 
combed hair.  She  saw  the  nebulous  shadow 
of  the  dreaded  Kokoyah,  the  pitiless  god  of 
the  waters,  to  whose  cold,  compassionless 
bosom  had  been  gathered  Ootah  and  Little 
Blind  Spring  Bunting. 

Along  the  horizon  Annadoah  saw  the  clouds 
moving  to  the  south.  Higher  up  they  moved 
to  the  west,  and  toward  the  zenith  stray  flecks 


266  THE   ETERNAL    MAIDEN 

moved  to  the  north.  The  spirits  of  the  air 
were  not  at  peace  among  themselves.  And 
dire  things  were  brooding.  From  the  inland 
highlands  of  Greenland  now  came  a  series  of 
swift  explosions,  and  in  the  brief  succeeding 
interval  there  was  an  unearthly  silence.  Then 
a  grinding  crash  rent  the  air.  The  spirits  of 
the  mountains  had  engaged  in  combat.  And 
in  the  swift  downward  surge  of  the  glacial 
avalanches  Annadoah  saw  tribes  wiped  from 
existence  and  villages  swept  into  the  sun-litten 
sea.  But  Annadoah  knew  that  the  sun-litten 
sea  was  a  treacherous  sea;  she  knew  that 
Koyokah,  whose  face  in  the  mist  was  wan, 
whose  lips  were  golden,  had  no  love  for  men, 
and  she  knew  that  the  spirits  of  the  air,  who 
moved  in  the  diversely  soaring  clouds,  were 
engaged  in  some  fell  conspiracy  against  her 
helpless  race. 

A  vague  realization  of  the  impotence  of  hu- 
manity against  fate,  against  the  forces  that 
weave  the  loom  of  life  within  and  without 
one's  heart,  weighed  cru shingly  upon  her. 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  267 

Radiant  indeed  was  the  sky  and  softly 
molten  golden  the  glorious  sea,  but  yet,  grim 
and  grisly,  behind  this  smiling  face  of  nature, 
Annadoah,  primitive  child  of  the  human  race, 
shudderingly  felt  the  malevolent  and  evil  eyes 
of  Perdlugssuaq,  the  spirit  of  great  evil,  he 
who  brings  sickness  and  death.  Annadoah 
felt  that  instinctive  fear  which  humanity  has 
felt  from  the  beginning — the  superstitious  ter- 
ror of  tribes  who  confront  extinction,  in  the 
face  of  famine;  the  quiet  white  tremor  of  the 
hard  working  hordes  of  modern  cities  in  the 
face  of  poverty  and  starvation;  the  dread  of 
savage  and  civilized  races  alike  of  the  incom- 
prehensible factor  in  the  universe  which 
wreaks  destruction,  that  original  and  ultimate 
evil  which  all  the  world's  religions  recognize, 
interpret,  and  offer  to  placate — the  force  that 
is  hostile  to  man  and  the  happiness  of  man. 

On  the  smooth  tossing  waters,  reflecting  the 
glory  of  the  sky,  there  was  no  sign  of  those 
who  had  perished. 

Then,  after  the  first  crushing  sense  of  help- 


268  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

lessness,  an  instinctive,  insurgent  hope  that 
would  not  be  defeated  asserted  itself.  Anna- 
doah  called  upon  Nerrvik,,  for  surely  Nerrvik 
was  kind  to  men.  She  pleaded  with  Kokoyah. 
She  importuned  the  spirits  of  the  sea  and  air 
to  return  her  beloved  ones  to  her. 

"Nerrvik!  Nerrvik!"  Annadoah  suppli- 
cated persuasively,  "gentle  spirit  of  the  sea, 
lift  Ootah  unto  me!  Thou  who  art  kind  to 
man  and  givest  him  fishes  from  the  deep  for 
food,  give  unto  Annadoah's  arms  Little  Blind 
Spring  Bunting." 

She  swayed  her  frail  body  to  and  fro,  and 
in  a  tremulous,  plaintive  chant  told  unto  the 
gentle  and  gracious  spirit  of  the  waters  all 
that  Ootah  had  been,  all  that  he  had  done  for 
the  tribe;  of  his  prowess,  of  his  love  for  her, 
of  her  own  hardness,  and  how  she  had  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  his  pleading.  Incident  after  in- 
cident she  recalled.  She  told  of  the  long  night, 
when  Ootah  went  by  moonlight  into  the  moun- 
tains, how  he  had  braved  the  hill  spirits,  how 
they  struck  him  in  the  frigid  highlands,  and 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  269 

how  the  beneficent  quilanialequisut  had 
brought  him  home.  Her  exquisite  voice  rose 
to  a  splendid  crescendo  as  she  described  that 
valorous  adventure,  and  in  the  chant  ran  the 
motifs  of  the  hill  spirit's  anger,  the  brave  leap- 
ing steps  of  Ootah,  the  tremor  of  the  moun- 
tains as  they  were  struck,  and  the  deep  ten- 
derness of  Ootah's  love.  In  that  customary 
chanting  address  to  the  spirits,  Annadoah  told 
of  Ootah's  return  from  the  mountains,  of  the 
suffering  he  endured,  and  how,  when  she 
soothed  him,  she  thought  of  the  great  trader 
from  the  south.  She  recalled  how  he  had  stag- 
gered from  the  igloo,  the  agony  in  his  eyes, 
and  how  she  heard  him  sobbing  his  heart-break 
in  the  auroral  silence  without  her  igloo  through 
the  long  sleep. 

Extending  her  arms  over  the  sea,  Annadoah 
reiterated,  after  each  statement  of  Ootah's 
bravery,  her  plea  to  Nerrvik  that  Ootah  be 
given  back  to  her. 

" Nerrvik!  Nerrvik!"  she  called,  "surely 
thou  art  kind!  O  thou  whom,  when  the  great 


270  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

petrel  raised  a  storm,  wast  cast  into  the  depths 
by  those  thou  didst  love,  thou  whose  heart 
achest  for  affection — hear  me,  hear  me,  and 
Annadoah  will  surely  come  to  thee  very  soon 
and  comb  thy  hair  in  the  depths  of  the  cold, 
cold  sea."* 

Tears  fell  from  her  eyes.  With  self-re- 
proach she  told  of  her  old  longing  for  Olafak- 
soah,  the  blond  man  from  the  south,  whose 
grim,  fierce  face  had  cowed  her,  yet  whose 
brutality  had  thrilled  her,  to  whose  beast- 
strength  and  to  whose  beast-passion  all  that 
was  feminine  in  her  had  surrendered  itself. 
But  he  had  left  her — he  said  that  he  would 
come  back  in  the  spring.  Now,  she  knew  he 
would  not  come  back — and  she  did  not  care. 
As  if  to  convince  the  spirit  of  this,  she  com- 

*  Nerrvik,  a  beautiful  maiden,  according  to  the  legend,  mar- 
ried a  storm-petrel  who  had  disguised  himself  as  a  man. 
When  she  discovered  the  deception  she  was  filled  with  horror, 
so  that  later,  when  her  relatives  visited  her,  she  determined  to 
escape  with  them.  When  the  petrel  returned  from  a  hunting 
trip  and  discovered  that  his  wife  had  gone,  he  followed,  and 
flapping  his  great  wings  raised  a  terrible  storm  at  sea.  Water 
filled  the  boat  in  which  Nerrvik  was  escaping.  When  they 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  271 

pared  Olafaksoah  with  Ootah;  she  knew  now 
that  he  had  used  her  to  rob  her  people,  that 
his  heart  was  as  stone.  Ootah,  she  had  once 
said,  had  the  heart  of  a  woman;  but  now  she 
realized  the  difference  between  them.  She 
knew  the  arms  of  Ootah  were  strong,  that  the 
words  of  Ootah  were  true,  that  the  heart  of 
Ootah  was  kind.  And  she  felt  stirring  in  her 
bosom  things  she  could  not  express;  a  vague 
comprehension  of  the  pure  spirituality  of  the 
man  who  had  died  to  save  her  child,  a  response 
to  the  love  that  had  stirred  in  the  bosom  now 
cold  beneath  the  sea.  All  the  primitive  deep 
profundity  of  the  devotion  of  that  wild- 
hearted  man  who  had  brought  a  wealth  of  food 

realized  that  Nerrvik  was  the  cause  of  the  storm  her  brothers 
cast  her  into  the  sea.  With  one  hand  she  clung  to  the  boat; 
her  grandfather  lifted  his  knife  and  struck.  Nerrvik  de- 
scended into  the  ocean  and  became  the  queen  of  the  fishes. 
Possessing  only  one  hand  she  cannot  plait  her  hair.  A  magi- 
cian who  can  go  to  Nerrvik  in  a  trance  and  arrange  her 
tresses  wins  her  gratitude  and  can  secure  from  her  for  the 
hunters  quantities  of  fish.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  simi- 
larity of  the  legend  of  Nerrvik  to  that  of  Jonah.  But  just  as 
the  Eskimos  have  changed  the  masculine  sun  of  southern 
mythologies  to  the  feminine,  so  the  victim  of  the  mythological 
sea  storm  in  the  arctic  becomes  a  woman. 


272  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

to  her  from  over  the  mountains,  who  had  faced 
death  for  her  on  the  frozen  seas,  who  had 
tended  her  in  her  time  of  trial  with  the  gentle- 
ness of  a  woman,  his  indomitable  heroism,  the 
splendor,  the  dauntless  unselfishness  and  brav- 
ery of  his  offering  to  father  her  sightless  child 
— all  this — all  this,  and  more — welled  up  in 
the  heart  of  Annadoah. 

"Nerrvik!  Nerrvik!  To  him  who  loved  her 
Annadoah  lied.  Dead,  she  told  him,  was  her 
heart  as  a  frozen  bird  in  wintertime — but  her 
heart  was  only  sleeping!  And  now  the  wings 
are  beating — beating  within  her  breast!  Oo- 
tah!  Ootah!  loh-h,  ioh-h!" 

Her  voice  broke.  She  beat  her  little 
breasts.  She  bent  over  the  sea  and  listened. 
For  a  long  while  she  watched. 

Then,  from  the  shadows  in  the  clouds,  the 
answer  came.  Truly  Ootah  was  brave,  and 
his  heart  was  marvellously  kind;  unsurpassed 
was  his  skill  on  the  hunt  and  of  every  animal 
did  he  kill;  and  great  was  his  love  for  Anna- 
doah. Even  the  spirits  had  marvelled  and 


THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN  273 

spoken  of  it  among  themselves ;  but  Annadoah 
had  chosen  her  fate;  she  had  denied  the  love 
that  had  unfalteringly  pursued  her,  and  now 
that  she  desired  it,  even  so  to  her  was  that  love 
to  be  denied.  That  was  fate. 

Then  in  a  clamorous  outbreak  did  Anna- 
doah plead  with  Kokoyah.  She  grovelled  on 
the  ground.  She  called  upon  all  the  spirits  of 
the  winds  and  air.  In  a  tremulous,  heart- 
broken plaint  she  finally  called  upon  the 
spirits  of  her  father,  her  mother,  and  those  who 
had  gone  before  them. 

But  unrelenting,  passionless,  the  answer 
came — from  the  shadows  in  the  clouds,  from 
the  winds,  from  the  moaning  sea.  To  warm 
the  wild  heart  under  the  water  was  beyond  the 
power  of  all  the  spirits.  They  repeated  to  her, 
as  in  mockery,  all  that  she  had  told  them  that 
Ootah  had  done,  of  his  mighty  love  for  her; 
but  nevermore  might  she  soothe  his  injured 
limbs,  nevermore  might  she  touch  his  gentle 
hands,  nevermore  might  she  look  into  his  ten- 
der and  adoring  eyes.  His  hands  were  cold, 


274  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

his  eyes  were  closed,  his  heart  was  still.  It 
throbbed  with  the  thought  of  her  no  more — 
and  that  would  be  forever.  That  was  fate. 

A  frail,  pitiful  figure,  Annadoah  stood  on 
the  cliff,  wringing  her  hands  toward  the  de- 
clining sun.  In  the  midst  of  that  wild  golden- 
burning  desolation,  Annadoah  felt  her  utter 
loneliness,  her  tragic  helplessness.  In  all  the 
universe  she  felt  herself  utterly  alone. 

Far  away,  awed  by  the  heroism,  the  very 
splendor  of  the  bravery  of  the  man  who  had 
perished,  the  tribe  stood  murmuring.  In  their 
hearts  was  no  little  unkindness  toward  Anna- 
doah. But,  forsaken,  outcast,  she  did  not  care. 

Over  the  aureate  shimmering  seas  she 
wrung  her  little  hands  and  into  the  waves  lap- 
ping at  her  feet  her  tears  fell  like  rain.  For 
the  heart  of  Annadoah  ached.  Nothing  in  the 
world  any  more  mattered.  All  that  she  had 
loved  had  perished  in  the  sea.  And  she  loved 
too  late. 

Gazing  at  the  low-lying  sun,  veiled  as  in  a 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  275 

vapor  of  tears,  remote,  and  sadly  golden  in  its 
self-destined  isolation,  an  instinctive  wild- 
world-understanding  of  that  tragedy  of  all 
life,  of  all  the  universe  perchance — of  that  un- 
selfish love  that  is  too  often  denied  and  the  un- 
happ)'  love  that  accents  only  too  late — vaguely 
filled  her  primitive  heart. 

Sinking  to  her  knees,  convulsed  sobs  shak- 
ing her,  she  wrung  her  hands  toward  the  sun, 
the  eternal  maiden  Sukh-eh-nukh  t  the  beauti- 
ful, the  all-desired. 

ffl-o-h-h-h!"  she  moaned,  and  her  voice 
sobbed  its  pathos  over  the  seas.  frl-o-h-h-h! 
I-o-h-h-h!  I-o-h-h-h,  Sukh-eh-nukh!  I-o-o-h-h, 
Sukh-eh-nukh!  Unhappy  sun — unhappy  sun! 
I-o-o-h-h-h-h,  Annadoah !  I-o-o-o-h-h-h-h, 
Annadoah!  Unhappy,  unhappy  Annadoah!" 

Annadoah's  head  sank  lower  and  lower. 
Her  weeping  voice  melted  in  the  melancholy 
sobbing  of  the  aureate  sea.  One  by  one  the 
natives  departed.  She  was  left  alone.  To  the 
north  the  sky  darkened  with  one  of  those  sud- 
den arctic  storms  which  come,  as  in  a  mo- 


276  THE  ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

ment's  space,  and  blast  the  tender  flowers  of 
spring.  A  cold  wind  moaned  a  pitiless  la- 
ment from  the  interior  mountains.  Yellow 
vapors  gathered  about  the  dimming  sun.  Om- 
inous shadows  took  form  on  the  shimmering 
sea. 

rfl-o-h-h-h — iooh!  Unhappy  sun — unhappy, 
unhappy  Annadoah!" 

Taking  fire  in  the  subdued  sunlight — and 
descending  from  heaven  like  a  gentle  benedic- 
tion of  feathery  flakes  of  gold — over  and  about 
the  dark,  crouched  figure,  softly  .  .  .  very 
softly  .  .  .  the  snow  began  to  fall. 


FINALE 

According  to  the  legends  of  the  tribes,  not 
for  many  long  and  aching  ages  shall  the  mel- 
ancholy moon  win  the  radiant  but  desolate 
Sukh-eh-nukh.  For  having  refused  love  she 
is  compelled  to  flee  in  her  elected  lot  from  the 
love  she  now  desires  but  which  she  once  denied, 
and  this  by  a  fate  more  relentless  than  the 
power  of  Perdlugssuaq,  a  fate  which  they  do 
not  comprehend,  but  which  is,  perchance,  the 
Will  of  Him  Whose  Voice  sometimes  comes 
as  a  strange  whistling  singing  in  the  boreal 
lights,  and  Who,  to  the  creatures  of  His  mak- 
ing, teaches  the  lessons  of  life  through  the  sor- 
rows which  result  from  the  acts  of  their  own 
choosing  .  .  .  Sometime — when,  they  do  not 
know — the  sun  and  moon  will  meet.  They 
will  then,  having  endured  loneliness  and  long 
yearning,  be  immeasurably  happy,  and  in  the 

277 


278  THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN 

consummation  of  their  desire  all  mankind  will 
share  .  .  .  For  as  ultimate  darkness  closes, 
all  who  have  been  true  to  the  highest  ideals  of 
the  chase  will  be  lifted  into  celestial  hunting 
grounds,  where  no  one  is  ever  hungry  nor 
where  is  it  ever  cold;  all  who  have  done  noble 
deeds  will  be  hailed  as  celestial  heroes.  He 
who  died  to  save  another  will  attain  immortal 
life;  he  who  gave  of  his  substance  to  feed  the 
starving  will  find  ineffable  food  and  in  abun- 
dance; he  who  loved  greatly,  who  suffered  re- 
jection uncomplainingly,  and  who  sought  un- 
tiringly— even  as  the  moon  pursued  Sukh-eh- 
nukh  for  ages — will,  in  that  land  where  the 
heart  never  aches  and  where  there  are  no  tears, 
see  the  very  fair  face  of  his  beloved  smiling  a 
divine  welcome,  and  her  eyes  filled  with  a  ra- 
diant response,  gazing  into  his  own.  The  end 
of  the  world  will  come,  and  with  it  will  cease 
the  suffering  struggles  of  all  the  world's  races. 
And  then  all  the  highest  hopes  of  men  will  find 
their  realization  in  an  undreamed-of  heaven  to 
which  all  who  have  lived  without  cowardice, 


THE   ETERNAL   MAIDEN  279 

ingratitude  or  taint  of  selfishness  in  their 
hearts,  will  be  translated  as  the  world's  last 
aurora  closes  its  mystic  veils  in  the  northern 
skies. 


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